UN aids appoints Maria Da Luz Guebuza patron of “global plan”

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) on Wednesday appointed Mozambique’s First Lady, Maria da Luz Guebuza, as patron of the “Global Plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive”.

The appointment was announced after a meeting between Maria da Luz Guebuza and the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibe, in the Tanzanian capital city Dar es Salaam.

Speaking at a press conference at the end of the Summit of African First Ladies, Maria da Luz Guebuza said that her appointment is a huge responsibility for Mozambique, requiring the country to look at experiences in Africa and the rest of the world.

President Armando Guebuza’s wife noted that Mozambique had been on the “red list” because of the high incidence of the HIV virus, but has now moved to the “orange list” due to the current efforts to reduce the spread of the disease.

She added that “Mozambique is ready to carry out fully this mission because the people are going to give their support for the goal of eliminating new infections by 2015”.

The First Lady stated that the Summit of African First Ladies “addressed the situation of women, children, education and agriculture, and we shared our experiences”.

However, she said that “we have to work even harder to succeed in reducing maternal and infant mortality. We have to work to ensure that Mozambican children are not born with HIV”.

On education, Maria da Luz Guebuza argued that Mozambique needs to continue to create the conditions for girls to access education, because the lack of schooling is a major barrier.

She added that she had used the Summit as an opportunity to invite the participants to come to the “Seventh Stop Cervical Cancer in Africa Conference” that will take place in Maputo from 21 to 23 July.

Post published in: Africa News

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