October 31, 2007

HIV Spreading In African Armed Forces

HIV is spreading among members of the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC’s) armed forces at an “extremely worrying” rate, said Mozambique Deputy Defense Minister Agostinho Mondlane (allafrica.com, 10/30).

At a military health services conference last week in Maputo, Mozambique, Mondlane said that current HIV rates “oblige us to redouble our efforts to develop changes in behavior among the public at large, and among soldiers in particular."

Mondlane encouraged military health personnel to work to fight the spread of HIV. However, other participants argued that recruits should be screened and barred from entering the armed forces if found to be HIV positive.