Pope Francis is wrapping up his visit to Mozambique by meeting with HIV-infected mothers and children at a Catholic Church-run hospital in one of the countries hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic.
The Zimpeto Hospital is the latest to be opened by the Sant’Egidio community, a Rome-based charity that helped broker Mozambique’s 1992 peace accord and then launched a comprehensive AIDS initiative to provide antiretroviral therapy to infected Mozambicans. Since its 2002 launch, the project has treated some 200,000 people.
Many of them are pregnant women who receive therapy to prevent transmission to their unborn children. According to UNAIDS, sub-Saharan Africa remains the most severely affected region, with 1 in 25 adults living with HIV.
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Pope Francis is visiting the Zimpeto hospital on Friday before celebrating Mass and flying to Madagascar.