Angolan Government Adopts Program to Distribute Antiretroviral Drugs
The Angolan government on Wednesday adopted a program to provide antiretroviral drugs to people with HIV/AIDS, the Washington Times reports. The main goals of the program will be to reduce the rates of vertical HIV transmission and mortality among HIV-positive individuals. The government hopes to receive funding for the program from UNAIDS, the World Health Organization and several non-governmental organizations (Washington Times, 4/25).
New AIDS Findings Presented at Conference
Nearly 9% of pregnant women in Angola's capital city, Luanda, are HIV-positive, according to study results presented yesterday at a medical conference in Angola, Agence
France-Presse reports. UNAIDS expert Alberto Stella said that a study of 500 pregnant women living in Luanda found that 8.6% of the women were HIV-positive. Marcela Silva of Angola's National Program to Fight AIDS announced at the conference that 8,149 HIV/AIDS cases had been reported, up from 5,112. Although the new number is "significantly higher" than the previous estimate, experts estimate that the actual number of HIV-positive Angolans is 43,748. In addition, the Justice, Peace and Democracy Association, the Angolan NGO that organized the conference, called for the government to "speed up" work on a law that would protect HIV-positive citizens from discrimination (Agence France-Presse, 4/25).