Mozambique has launched a program on gender and AIDS, dealing specifically with the feminization of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, local media reported on Saturday.

Gender inequalities, the lack of economic opportunities, limited power, socio-cultural habits and lack of knowledge about sexual health are among the factors that put women at increased risk of infection by the HIV virus that causes AIDS, said Mozambican Health Minister Ivo Garrido at the launch of the joint program with the United Nations and the government of the Belgian region of Flanders on Friday night.

The 10-million-euro (12.8 million US dollars) program is financed by the Flemish government and will be implemented over a period of four years.

The United Nations AIDS Program (UNAIDS) country coordinator in Mozambique Telva Barros said "focusing on women and girls is essential. Women are not often in a position to negotiate safe sex in Mozambique, and when women lose their husbands or partners to AIDS, they are often denied their inheritance rights, leaving them destitute and even more vulnerable."

A report from the Task Force on Women, Girls and AIDS in southern Africa, set up under the initiative of UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan, has identified the areas of intervention- prevention strategies among girls and young women, namely the education of girls, violence against women and girls, inheritance and property rights, the role of women as care givers, and care and treatment for infected women.

The most recent report of the Mozambican Health Ministry shows that 58 percent of those living with HIV are women, while 75 percent of Mozambicans infected with the virus are aged between 15 and 24. It also finds 14.9 percent of Mozambicans aged between 15 and 49 are HIV positive.

Garrido said that, although the rate of HIV prevalence is lower in Mozambique than in several other southern African countries, it remains among the highest rates in the world.