HIV/AIDS DISCUSSION AT FRELIMO CONGRESS SHOWS

UNCLAS MAPUTO 001531

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE PASS TO AF/S, AF/PD, AND OGAC

PASS TO USAID FOR AFR/SA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KCOR PGOV PHUM MZ
SUBJECT: HIV/AIDS DISCUSSION AT FRELIMO CONGRESS SHOWS
CONTINUED GRM LEADERSHIP, RANK-AND-FILE RELUCTANCE

Ref: Maputo 1497 (NOTAL)


1. The recent congress of the ruling FRELIMO party (reftel)
was the year's most important political event. Discussion
of HIV/AIDS at the 1,600-delegate event demonstrated both
the commitment of senior government and party figures in the
fight against AIDS and some of the challenges they face.
President Guebuza opened the Congress with a warning of the
toll AIDS was taking on the country, saying "the most
dramatic thing is that many of the more than a million and a
half Mozambicans infected with HIV don't know that they are
carrying the virus." Guebuza said the 500 or so new
infections per day partly reflected the lack of knowledge of
(other) individuals as to their status. "We are dying,
comrades", he declared. "Mozambicans are dying. HIV/AIDS
is becoming a serious obstacle to our efforts in the fight
against poverty." Guebuza added that far too many
Mozambican delayed seeking help from the health services,
often going to health facilities only when they were in the
final stages of the disease. Guebuza called on party
militants to "explore the options that should be followed by
their government" so that testing would increase and the
disease could be detected much earlier.


2. Prime Minister Luisa Diogo also focused on AIDS in her
speech to delegates, emphasizing both the importance of
prevention and the ongoing expansion in ARV treatment.
Diogo said the GRM wanted to increase the number of people
receiving ARV treatment from just under 20,000 in late 2005
to at least 40,000 by the end of the year. She added that
by the first quarter of 2007, ARVs would be available in
each of the country's 128 districts. (Comment: Press
reports have not indicated whether she gave the USG or other
donors credit for our assistance in making this possible.)
Press reports stated, however, that it is believed that
between 200,000 and 300,000 Mozambicans have reached the
stage in the disease where they should be on ARVs. Graca
Machel, the widow of Mozambique's first president and a
powerful figure in the party who heads an NGO that receives
AIDS funding from USAID and other donors, also emphasized
the importance of fighting the disease.


3. The most dramatic moments came from Guebuza's predecessor
as president, Joaquim Chissano, who emphasized the
importance of testing. Chissano said one reason the
campaign against AIDS had not provided the hoped-for results
in Africa was the failure to take tests, saying "We're
ashamed to find out whether we're ill or not...We have no
problem in being tested for malaria, which also kills, so
why don't we take the HIV test?" Chissano pledged that, as
soon as he returned to Maputo from the Congress, he would go
to a Voluntary Counseling and Testing center and take the
test. He then challenged delegates to follow him, saying
that if they wanted, he would take the test at the site of
the Congress the next day, and asking which delegates would
go with him to be tested. The response was disappointing,
as only a few delegates' hands rose.


4. Comment: Guebuza and the other senior political figures
who spoke at the congress are seized with the importance of
the fight against AIDS. The lack of a response to Chissano
illustrates the continuing reluctance of many Mozambicans to
confront the disease, at least in public. Nevertheless, we
hope that the events of the congress will increase momentum
for future individual as well as official action. We
continue to remind senior GRM officials at every opportunity
of the importance of sustained effort to change public
attitudes and behavior. They understand both the urgency
and the difficulty of that task. End comment.
DUDLEY