The National Institute of Health (INS) is testing the production of a vaccine to fight HIV/AIDS in Mozambique, according to the sector's Deputy Director-General.

"Due to the biological complexity of the [hiv] virus, identifying a candidate that gives a protective, comprehensive, long-lasting and effective response is difficult," said Eduardo Samo Gudo, quoted Wednesday by the STV television channel.

The difficulty in identifying a better response to the epidemic has to do with poor uptake of testing, treatment, and patient information gathering.

"There are individuals who know they are at some risk or who, by the nature of their activity, should get tested, but they don't. There is still a lot of refusal and fear on the part of people, to know their status," revealed Samo Gudo.

Currently, there are about 2.1 million people living with the disease in the country, of which 1.8 million adhere to treatment.

Eduardo Samo Gudo was speaking on the sidelines of the I Symposium on HIV, organized by the National Observatory on Health.