This statement was made on inaugurating the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) office in Maputo, Mozambique. This is the organization's first office abroad. Fiocruz is a research institution connected to the Ministry of Health.
"Brazil has a political, moral and ethical obligation to do what it is doing on the African continent. We are certainly not the main debtors to Africa, but we are certainly the most thankful as they helped make us what we are," he said, referring to the mixed blood of the Brazilian people.
The expectation is that investment in the construction of a Fiocruz unit should reach 13.6 million Brazilian reais (US$ 6.2 million) up to the end of 2009, and that it should help in the establishment of a factory of antiretroviral drugs for the treatment of Aids.
"We have an objective of complying with the deadlines specified to give the African people of Mozambique the right not to die precociously of Aids and other diseases," said Lula during his address.
In Maputo, Lula also delivered to the governor of Mozambique a mobile unit given by the Social Service for Industry (Sesi). The visit to Mozambique ended the Brazilian president's trip, which began in Spain, and also included India.
ABr