Luanda - Health Minister Silvia Lutucuta reaffirmed the Angolan government's commitment to fight HIV/AIDS, with preventive measures such as the services of the vertical transmission cutting.
The Cabinet minister made this statement at the end of a joint virtual meeting of health ministers and Hiv/AIDS officials from the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Angola has 340,000 people with HIV, of which only 93,000 receive antiretroviral treatment.
According to data from the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS), by April 2020, at least 26,000 new infections and 13,000 AIDS-related deaths had been registered,
These include 3,800 children and 9,000 adults.
A total of 31,000 children (0-14) live with HIV, of whom 5,113 receive treatment. Treatment coverage for children in need of antiretrovirals is 16 percent. The number of AIDS orphans is 176,901.
Total treatment coverage in the general population is 27 percent and HIV prevalence (15-49) is 2 percent. There are 210 women living with HIV and 90,000 men living with the same virus in the country.
Silvia Lutucuta said the government has made efforts to give people with the disease access to antiretrovirals.
She highlighted the "Born Free to Shine" campaign, which aims to eliminate the transmission of HIV/AIDS from mothers to their children, a project launched by the first lady of the Republic, Ana Dias Lourenço.
