Angolan vice president flies flag to mark World Aids Day

Angolan Vice President Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos on Thursday flew the flag "Know your serological state" to mark the December 1 World Aids Day and to kick off a nationwide awareness campaign against the disease. At the ceremony held at the National Institute for Fight Against Aids (INLS) in Luanda, the vice president was accompanied by Health Minister Jose Van-Dunem, Angola's newly crowned Miss Universe Leila Lopes, Chairwoman of National Institute for Fight Against Aids Dulcelina Serrano. Fernando da Piedade raised the flag with the traditional "Red Lace" during his visit to the INLS, where he learned about the functioning of the institution and its efforts to combat Hiv/Aids. This campaign "Know your serological state" is expected to last one year in the African country and to provide voluntary and free testing to more than 1.5 million people among age groups most vulnerable to the disease. INLS deputy director Lucia Furtado told reporters that at least 200,000 HIV positive people were being controlled countrywide by the institution, a figure based on the output of a prevalence study conducted in pregnant women during their pre- natal consultations in the last three years, but apparently too partial to give a full picture of the AIDS/HIV positive people of the country's 18.5 million population. Lucia Furtado said that an awareness campaign dubbed as "Red Lace Campaign" will be also launched to sensitize the society on the danger of the disease.