Towards the end of 1999, the Mozambican Government set up the National Strategic Plan (“PEN”) to combat STD/HIV/AIDS in recognition of the escalation of the HIV /AIDS epidemic in the country despite the implementation of a national programme to combat AIDS. PEN provides a framework and defines the broad strategies adopted by the Government of Mozambique in its battle against the epidemic. The current PEN covers the period from 2001 to 2005. The strategic plan recognises that a multi-sectoral approach to the problem is the most effective way to combat the eptdemic. This approach has come to be known as the “AIDS Fighting System”. Included in Appendix A is an illustration of the AIDS Fighting System.

The AIDS fighting system is comprised of three horizontal layers:

national level, territorial level and the local response level. Simultaneously, four main vertical layers are recognised, each of which has a component at each of the three horizontal layers, Conselho Nacional de Combate ao SIDA (“CNCS”), Government Ministries, the national ~“Dynamising” Projects and Programmes and the AIDS Fund....