Madagascar vows to achieve zero new HIV infection

Madagascar's president vowed to fight against HIV infection when he meet the UNAIDS executive secretary Michel Sidibé here on Wednesday.

The discussions were focused on defining the actions to be undertaken in the fight against HIV in Madagascar.

Madagascar has the ability to defeat this scourge, and achieve zero goals, including transmission from mother to child, the president said.

It is time and necessary to establish an adequate program for the Indian Ocean island country because AIDS is inequality and inequity in the treatment of carriers of the HIV virus, Michel Sidibé said.

Concerning AIDS cases diagnosed since 1987 in Madagascar, HIV prevalence increased from 0.02 percent to 0.4 percent in 2012 with an estimated 42,370 total infection.

Madagascar endorsed in 2011 the political statement to achieve the objectives zero: zero new HIV infection - zero AIDS-related deaths - zero discrimination. Endi