Luanda,  – The regional director of Africa of the World Health Organisation  (WHO), Luís Gomes Sambo, Monday appealed to health professionals to counsel and  encourage safe sexual attitudes, including abstinence.

The appeal is contained in a WHO message that reached Angop on Tuesday, on the occasion  of  the celebrations of the World Aids Day, December 1, urging the professionals to counsel  for a duly start of sexual activity and appropriate use of condoms.

In the message, Angolan Luís Gomes Sambo speaks of the need for intensified prevention of  Hiv/Aids, in addition to treatment and care.

 
He also spoke of the need for the promotion of a lifestyle and sound behaviours, routine Hiv/Aids testing, counselling, administration of treatment with anti-retroviral drugs to infected  pregnant women, in order to prevent transmission to their babies.

 
The official also mentioned the need for safe male circumcision services in places of high  Hiv/Aids prevalence and implementation of strategies of control of TB/Aids infections.

 
Luís Gomes Sambo appealed to the African leaders to create a favourable environment,  promulgating appropriate legislation and formulating policies that promote universal access to  health care.

 
The official recalled that WHO Africa region represents about 10 percent of the world  population and responds for two thirds of the number of people living with Hiv/Aids.

 
According to him, of the 2.7 million new Hiv infections that occurred in the world in 2007,  about 1.9 were recorded in Africa.

He said as well the two last years recorded an unprecedented progress in the expansion of the  interventions of the health sector for the prevention, treatment and care of the disease.

In 2008, more than half a million Hiv infected women, representing 45 percent of eligible people, received anti-retroviral treatment for the prevention of mother to child transmission, as  compared with 34 percent of the previous year.

 
About three million people infected with the Hiv virus received anti-retroviral treatment in  2008, representing a coverage rate of 44 percent, in comparison with 33 percent of 2007.

Women represent 64 percent of the total number of people who benefit from anti-retroviral  treatment.