MAPUTO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Mozambique should be able to absorb and make good use of the existing financial resources allocated for the fight against HIV/AIDS, if these activities are to be sustainable, an official has said.

    The representative of the United Nations program against AIDS (UNAIDS) in Mozambique, Mauricio Cysne, told AIM on Monday that this country has an enormous challenge to face, which is to increase, with its own means, the resources to respond to the concerns created by HIV/AIDS.

    He said that this results from findings that funds made available at global level are not enough, which may jeopardize the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

    Cysne argued that, for instance, only 10 billion U.S. dollars were made available globally last year for the fight against AIDS, compared with the 19 billion dollars needed.

    "The partners of UNAIDS did not grant the money needed at world level to respond to the challenges of prevention and treatment", he said.

    Looking at this reality, countries such as Mozambique should develop a capacity to make use of the available resources and, in the long term, generate their own to respond to the situation, said Cysne.

    He stressed that it is inconceivable that antiretroviral treatment in Mozambique covers only 38 percent of those in need of it, if there are resources to cater for all of them.

    "Sustainability of resources allocated to Mozambique to respond to the HIV/AIDS pandemic is the challenge that the country is currently facing. In the long term, the challenge is to increase these resources by the country's own means", he said.

    Asked whether Mozambique is failing in HIV/AIDS prevention, Cysne noted that the results from treatment are more visible than those from prevention.

    "Effects on prevention are less palpable than on treatment, where we can see people improving their physical aspect. Results from prevention take more time to be visible, and it is not easy to measure them," he explained.

    Mozambique has an HIV prevalence rate estimated at 16 percent among those aged between 15 and 49. Of the estimated 1.6 million Mozambicans living with the HIV virus, about 300,000 need antiretroviral treatment, but only 100,000 are currently benefiting.