William Mapote
Today's G8 'recommitment' to give $6-8 billion a year to fight HIV and AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, has become the latest AIDS promise. And at this stage, it is still just that - a promise.
Even so, it will help to remind the Mozambican government about its 1.5 million citizens who live with HIV. Around nine out of every ten of them are losing hope daily, waiting for death, because they don't have treatment. For these people the recent 'recommitment' might not be translated into practical help in time.
In more than nine provinces in Mozambique there is only one health centre available to manage the treatment roll-out. According to a recent study by Médecins Sans Frontières, six in every ten people in Niassa province in the north of the country, give up on their anti-retroviral treatment because they have to walk up to 30 km to get to the nearest clinic.
These people need more than promises. They need action so that they can live long enough to look after their children.
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