AIDS Could Lead to Collapse of Mozambique: Prime Minister

Mozambican Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi has warned that the country could face collapse if effective measures are not taken to halt the spread of AIDS. Speaking at a Maputo press briefing last Thursday, Mocumbi admitted that the AIDS epidemic could throw out all calculations as to the amounts needed to recruit and train staff for vital areas in education, health and policing. As increasing numbers of teachers, health workers and policemen die of AIDS, it might become impossible to replace them with new recruits, he said.

"Hence the government's concern for the future of the country, if this disease is not checked," Mocumbi told reporters. "We could face the collapse of the state, the collapse of companies, the collapse of your newspapers, because of the deaths of trained young people." He pointed out that AIDS is taking its most severe toll among those ages 15 to 49 -- the most productive age group in the country.

Mocumbi stressed the need to educate children and adolescents about AIDS and how to avoid it, but he drew the line at distributing condoms in schools, largely because he thought this would not be accepted by parents. "Parents don't want to see schools as agents of promiscuity," he said. "There would be a danger of conflict between schools and parents." He said that school administrators should discuss AIDS with parents.

Back to other CDC news for July 23, 2002

Previous Updates | Search the CDC archive