The Mozambican Minister of Health considers that Covid-19 has affected the country’s HIV/AIDS program due to the reduction and diversion of resources to face the pandemic.
The normal programs for other diseases had to reduce their performance, not only due to lack of resources, but also because Covid-19 has precipitated isolation in many countries,” Armindo Tiago said, quoted this Wednesday by the newspaper.
According to the Mozambican official, Covid-19 forced the reallocation of resources of the program to fight HIV/AIDS and other diseases, which culminated in the reduction of the gains made in the fight against them.
The isolation imposed by Covid-19, Armindo Tiago advanced, also affected the “export of medicines and hospital supplies”, which led the entity to prolong the dispensing period of antibiotics.
One of the measures taken was the introduction of long-term packages. In this context, we dispensed medications for longer periods, so that patients did not go to health facilities frequently and comply with social distance”, Armindo Tiago highlighted.
The last Survey of Immunization, Malaria and HIV/AIDS Indicators in Mozambique (Imasida), carried out in 2015, points to the country as one of the five with a high rate of infection by the pandemic in the world, with 13.2% of young people and adults from 15 to 49 years old contaminated.
Source: Observadora
