U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael O. Leavitt and Delegation Visit Sites in Mozambique | Secretary Leavitt listens to Joaquina’s story at Bairro Manhaua, Quelimane, Mozambique. |
August 23, 2007 – U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Michael O. Leavitt and other senior U.S. administration officials observed the challenges of delivering health care in Africa when they visited Mozambique on Wednesday. After meeting in the morning with President of Mozambique, the Honorable Armando Emílio Guebuza, and with the Mozambican Minister of Health, the Honorable Paulo Ivo Garrido, M.D., the delegation traveled to the José Macamo Urban Health Center in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. The site is a model center for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) and antiretroviral treatment, and receives funding from the HHS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The U.S. visitors listened to facilitators and HIV-infected women speak on their experience with PMTCT, their involvement in the "Positive Teas" (support groups for women who are HIV-positive), and their participation in "Wake up and Live" (a counseling and support group). Through groups such as "Positive Teas," communities in Mozambique have banded together to improve their health outcomes. Afterwards, Secretary Leavitt and the U.S. delegation went to the Agência de Desenvolvimento do Povo para o Povo (ADPP), in Matola, Mozambique, where Secretary Leavitt took an HIV test through the finger-prick rapid-test method to help encourage voluntary counseling and testing among the Mozambican population. He and the rest of the delegation also participated in a roundtable discussion with community counselors. ADPP health programs in Mozambique are part of the pilot HIV community counseling-and-testing initiative supported by PEPFAR through HHS/CDC and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Secretary Leavitt later spoke to students and faculty at Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, where he shared his experiences so far on his trip to Africa, and answered questions from the audience. For more information:
Last revised: September 27, 2007 | 
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