8-25-05,9:07am

Maputo, Aug 24 (Prensa Latina) More than 600 specialists from 50 African countries are analyzing Wednesday the production of essential medicines, HIV-AIDS and access to antiretroviral treatment for infected persons.

In the symposium promoted by the World Health Organization for Africa (WHO-Africa), delegates will also discuss the increase of cardiovascular diseases and strategies for the control of AIDS, which affects most nations in the continent.

During the 55th session of the WHO-Africa committee, the director of the international organization for Africa asked the delegates to declare 2006 as the year of the fight against AIDS.

The director added that it was necessary to work for access to therapies against HIV-AIDS for those infected throughout the world to arrest the disease, which until July killed more people than in any other previous period.

AIDS, said Gomes Sambo 'threatens the structure of society and hope for life'is plummeting'.

He added that in regions where HIV is a relatively emerging phenomenon, mainly in Eastern Europe and the greater part of Asia, the disease is spreading more quickly than in other parts of the world.

Gomes Sambo believed that low availability and management of human resources, financing of services and technologic shortages were some of the problems facing African countries´ public health systems, putting the people in jeopardy.

According to the Joint United Nations Program on AIDS (UNAIDS), over 40 million people are infected with HIV, of which 64 percent live in South Saharan Africa.

South Africa is the nation most affected by the disease, with over 5.3 million HIV positive people.