Panafrican News Agency - November 29, 2001

"The situation of the disease is still disturbing in Pointe- Noire", said a health official, two days before the Saturday's International AIDS Day.

According to a survey conducted by the Congolese National AIDS control programme, HIV infects 2,000 persons in Pointe-Noire the country's business capital, where 14 percent of women have been diagnosed to be living with the AIDS-causing virus.

Another study jointly conducted by the programme and Red Cross, reveals a 35 percent HIV prevalence rate among prostitutes while 17 percent of people infected with Sexually Transmissible Diseases (STD) were also found to be infected by the lethal virus.

Infection rates are highest among young people in the 15-49 years age bracket. The pandemic is now accountable for 14 percent of deaths in Congo, where it has become the first cause of hospitalisation.

As AIDS wreaks havoc in Pointe-Noire, sceptics do not appears to change their sexual behaviours.

It is very difficult to give reliable figures on HIV/AIDS in Congo because of the civil wars that occurred in 1997 and 1999 during which no surveys were undertaken to determine the exact number of infected persons.

However, the national AIDS control programme estimates that between 96,000 and 120,000 persons are living with AIDS in Congo. A new survey is to be conducted at the end of the year.

People living with HIV/AIDS currently occupy a third of the country's hospital beds.

Since the control programme was effectively launched in 2000, it has produced a three-year strategic plan, instituted an AIDS prevention project in schools and launched a joint initiative with neighbouring countries to combat sexually transmitted disease in settlement s along the Congo, Oubangui and Chari Rivers.

The results of the eradication efforts also include launching a project in Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville to reduce the rate of mother-child transmission, organising an information campaign on preservatives and adhering to the "Acceleration of health care on the AIDS" or "Access" initiative.

Under this initiative, Congo will get antiretrovirals from major pharmaceutical companies at lower costs.

The Congolese health minister, Dr. Leon Alfred Opimbat, announced recently that negotiations with these pharmaceutical firms have been completed and patients would start getting the drugs in 2002.

The negotiated prices for the tri-therapy varies between 21,000 FCFA (about 28 US dollars) and 56,200 FCFA (close to 75 US dollars) per patient every month. Their real prices is 350,000 FCFA (about 473 US dollars) and 450,000 FCFA (about 600 US dollars) at the moment, the minister said.

Very little care is currently available for AIDS patients in Congo, although the government has announced that it will provide 584 million FCFA (about 790,000 US dollars) to treat 1,000 people living with HIV/AIDS.

"It is really regrettable that we are depriving our brothers of our presence, simply because they have AIDS," the Movement for Life (MPV), an NGO of the Pointe-Noire diocese said, adding that "the community spirit that characterises Congo has been corrupted".

"We should change our attitude towards AIDS patients who, deep in their hearts, have a feeling of revolt and bitterness because of what they are subjected to," the NGO further states.

These views are shared by most anti-AIDS associations, which have frequently expressed dismay at the abandonment of people living with HIV/AIDS.

In 1997, Congo notified the World Health Organisation (WHO) that 10,423 of its nationals were living with AIDS while 100,000 others were living with HIV, which leads to the incurable disease.

The national AIDS control programme is convinced that these statistics do not reflect the reality in view of the massive population movements during the different civil wars in Congo.

The average national HIV prevalence rate is currently estimated at 7.78 percent.
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