Minister of Health, Sílvia Lutucuta, revealed yesterday in Luanda that malaria is responsible for 95% of deaths that occur in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). To reverse this situation, she advocated the need for SADC countries to expand preventive efforts and the introduction of highly effective vaccines once morest malaria into routine vaccination programs. The minister, who was speaking at the opening of the joint meeting of health ministers and those responsible for combating HIV/AIDS in SADC, according to Angop.
Although the incidence of tuberculosis has decreased in the region between 2016 and 2021, standing at 13 percent, Sílvia Lutucuta said that it continues to be a public health problem, and it is crucial to reinforce diagnosis and treatment coverage with adequate resources, qualified personnel , diagnostic equipment and tuberculostatics to “advance towards the goal of putting an end to tuberculosis”. “We face a complex reality in the fight once morest HIV in the SADC region,” she said.
The increase in the number of people living with HIV/AIDS is also another concern of the minister, saying it is a positive reflection of the expansion of detection and coverage of antiretroviral treatment.
For the minister, momentum must be maintained and efforts must be intensified to implement the Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights strategy. The health minister said that child malnutrition is not just a public health problem, it is a crisis that affects the heart of SADC countries and globally, compromising the potential of many children and, therefore, the collective future.
