01/04/2003

Taking on a "Second War" in Mozambique

MAPUTO, Mozambique, APRIL 1, 2003 (Zenit.org).- Thanks to an Italian project known as Dream, over the next four years 30,000 seropositive patients in Mozambique will receive treatment for AIDS.

The Community of Sant'Egidio has been promoting the initiative for three years. Financed by the Italian government, the project will offer medical care, formation and service.

"AIDS is like a second war for Mozambique, and it is even bloodier than the first," said Leonardo Palombi, project coordinator.

Vatican Radio reported that the Farmindustria association will also collaborate in the project. It has allocated 350,000 euros ($381,000) to fund research in this area.

"Our effort is not just financial, because we are committed to sharing with the doctors in Mozambique the technical and scientific knowledge we have acquired in research on AIDS," said Gian Pietro Leoni, president of Farmindustria.

According to Francisco Ferrera Songane, Mozambique's Health Minister, the project is the best answer to the needs of the territory's health planning.

Added Mario Marazziti, a Sant'Egidio director: "We have started to dream that it is possible to fight and win in the battle against AIDS."

Sant'Egidio, a Catholic movement founded in Rome in 1968, was decisive in putting an end to the civil wars in Mozambique and Guatemala.