Maputo  - Through a combination of improved prevention, diagnostic and treatment methods Mozambique is finally turning the corner on malaria, the biggest killer of children in Africa.

The number of malaria dead in the south-east African country fell for the first time in 20 years last year - from 3,998 in 2007 to 2,949 in 2008, or about one-quarter, Health Minister Ivo Garrido was quoted by the Noticias newspaper Wednesday as saying.

Maputo  - At least 15 people died from cholera in a prison cell in the northern Mozambican province of Nampula after escaping death from asphyxiation in an overcrowded jail cell last month, local media reported Thursday.

The daily paper Noticias citing Carlos Amade, the administrator of Angoche district, said the cholera spread due to the new cell's overcrowding and lack of basic sanitation.

The deceased were part of a group of inmates transferred from Mongincual district jail after the death of 13 prisoners from asphyxiation last month.

Maputo  - Hundreds of Mozambicans suffering with HIV/AIDS protested Thursday in front of the country's major hospital against the closure of their special care units, saying they fear loss of privacy with the move.

The protests at the Hospital Central de Maputo (HCM) followed the recent announcement by Mozambican Health Minister Ivo Garrido that specialized units for HIV/AIDS treatments were to be closed.

Maputo - Tourism is buoyant in the southern African country of Mozambique, famous for its white-sand beaches, with government income from the sector doubling in four years, a government minister told Parliament Thursday.

Tourism added 185 million dollars to state coffers in 2008, up from 95 million dollars in 2004, and a 13-per-cent increase from 2007.

Maputo - The Mozambique government has agreed to carry out an investigation into the deaths of 12 inmates in a prison cell at a jail in the north of the country earlier this week.

In a statement issued late Tuesday night, the country's Police General Command confirmed the deaths at the prison in Mongincual, in the province of Nampula overnight Monday.

The statement said that police had originally arrested 29 people on March 14 in connection with local demonstrations. Of these 12 later died in prison.

Maputo - At least 12 people have died in strange circumstances in a prison cell in northern Mozambique, media reports said Tuesday.

The public channel TVM said there was no concrete explanation for the deaths of the inmates at the prison in the Mongincual district of Nampula province. It was also not clear why they were being held at the facility.

The policemen were killed when trying to pacify the mob that attacked red cross volunteers whom they accused of deliberately spreading cholera.