During the opening on Monday of a Maputo workshop on the matter, Alfredo MacArtur, the head of the epidemic and endemic disease department in the Health Ministry, said that Mozambique is currently providing ARV treatment to at least 37,000 patients, a little short of the targeted 40,000 for this year.
The three day workshop is being organized by the Health Ministry, in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), and is being attended by expert participants from the WHO African Region, and NGOs involved in providing ARV therapy, such as the Health Alliance International and the Italian Sant'Egidio Community.
MacArtur explained that, to guarantee the expansion of these services, the government, through the Health Ministry, has already trained 600 professionals, who are to work in the more than 120 health units providing anti-retrovirals. The government hopes to make ARV therapy available in all districts of the country by 2007.
He added that the government's plan is to have this service available in an equitable manner, but he noted that in some health units, particularly in rural areas, the drugs are available, but few people are requesting them. A positive aspect was that about 90 per cent of patients on ARV are adhering to the treatment regime.
MacArtur believes that instances of poor take-up of ARV therapy are due to lack of knowledge by prospective patients and also fear of stigma and discrimination. The belief that if they are identified as HIV-positive, they will face discrimination in their community leads some people not to seek out treatment, even when they know their state of health.
"Only a strong and uniform monitoring system can determine what kind of work should be done in each area in the country, including the need to strengthen counselling and prevention, and other aspects, depending on local data", he said.
The purpose of monitoring and evaluation is to allow the health services to improve the health status of people living with HIV which, in the rural areas, is worsened by illiteracy, gender inequity, poor access to clean drinking water, and diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis.
MacArtur added that the government is dealing with the HIV/AIDS issue with all the seriousness that it deserves and, despite limited financial resources, has decided to expand ARV treatment to the entire country. But for this to work properly, the government has to create mechanisms to be able to detect constraints, and give feedback to the relevant authorities.
"This information will allow us to improve planning and will serve as a basis for the government and its partners to select alternatives to design new strategies for the future", he said.
SOURCE: AIM
