The governments of Mozambique and Angola, along with ten other African countries, today pledged to eradicate AIDS in children by 2030 through the implementation of treatment, prevention and testing programs for the disease.

According to the EFE news agency, quoted by Lusa, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia made this promise at the first ministerial meeting of the Global Alliance to End AIDS in Children, which took place yesterday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's commercial capital.

The objective, set last year by UNAIDS, received the unanimous support of the 12 countries at the meeting, which was also attended by other UN agencies such as the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

"All of us in our positions must play a role in ending AIDS in children; the Global Alliance is the right direction and we must not be satisfied; 2030 is just around the corner," said Tanzania's Vice President Philip Mpango.

Namibia's first lady, Monica Geingos, supported these words and advocated a "clear plan of action" to "end AIDS in children once and for all", since "there is no greater priority than this".

The work of these countries, which have high rates of infection with the disease, will focus on carrying out periodic tests and providing better treatment for babies, children and adolescents, as well as improving the treatment given to pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in order to eliminate hereditary transmission.

According to UNAIDS data, quoted by EFE, one child dies every five minutes from AIDS-related causes.

"This meeting gave me hope," admitted UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima, quoted in a statement, adding: "With the science we have today, no baby has to be born with HIV or become infected while breastfeeding and no child living with HIV should be without treatment."