Legislators in Mozambique’s parliament are urging the government to allocate more funds to tackle the HIV/Aids epidemic, in the week that marks World Aids day.
The budget allocated to combat the epidemic has been reducing year after year – the budget has decreased from $2.9m (£2.1m) in 2015 to about $1.6m in 2020.
Meanwhile, a report by the the parliamentary office to combat HIV records an increase in infections.
It says contributing factors include an increase in population mobility, the growing number of multiple marital partners and the proliferation of mining lorry drivers and gold miners are contributing for the increase in new infections.
The office says it has also recorded an increase in the number of sex workers.
They have warned that budget cuts will affect the fight against HIV.
The legislators say the epidemic has killed 50,000 people in the country over the past five years.
Mozambique has the fourth highest rate of HIV in the world, after South Africa, Nigeria and Russia.
According to official data, Mozambique has 2.2 million people living with HIV.
Source: bbc.com