Once a menace, HIV and Aids no longer evoke the greatest fear in people, thanks to scientifically proven solutions such as abstinence, condom use, pre-exposure prophylaxis and circumcision, among others. However, as TIYESE MONJEZA writes, HIV continues to infect people in the country.
By now, Malawians were supposed to be confidently trudging forward, safe in the knowledge that 2030, when the country is supposed to end Aids’ reign as a public health threat, is around the corner. However, this is not entirely the case, more so because the country continues to register cases of HIV infection.
According to Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, Malawi is expected to register 14,000 new HIV infections in 2024, which will be largely among the youth aged between 15 and 39 years. Kandodo Chiponda said the figures are according to the 2023 Malawi Spectrum Estimates.
She was quick to say despite the projected 14,000 new HIV infections, the country was making strides in its HIV and Aids response as cases of new infections were declining compared to the previous year.
“The country is making progress in [terms of reducing cases of] new HIV infections. For instance in 2016, we had 22,000 new HIV infections but in the previous years, the figures have been around 14,000. We are doing well mostly in mother to child transmission and also achieved 95 targets for the general population,” Chiponda said.
She urged people to embrace abstinence, condom use and other HIV preventive measures so that the country could achieve its goal of ending Aids as a public health threat by 2030.
“In the past eight months, our health facilities treated over 300,000 sexually transmitted infections, a demonstration that most people are having unprotected sex. I, therefore, urge young people to use HIV preventive tools including pre-exposure prophylaxis and circumcision so that we end this pandemic,” Kandodo Chiponda said.
United States (US) Embassy Chief of Mission Amy Diaz said her country would continue investing in HIV and Aids response programmes in Malawi. “We have provided about $2 billion dollars to Malawi in the last five years through US Presidents Emergency Plan for Aids Relief for managing HIV/ Aids.
billion dollars to Malawi
We are committed to supporting the country’s health sector in fighting the pandemic,” Diaz said. National Aids Commission Board Chairperson Chipo Kanjo urged the citizenry against discriminating and stigmatising people living with HIV and Aids.
“We want law agencies and the Judiciary to be penalising those engaged in unlawful disclosure of HIV/Aids status in line with provisions of the HIV and Aids Act. We want everyone to be enjoying rights irrespective of health condition,” Kanjo said. Meanwhile, Malawi Network of Aids Service Organisations Board chairperson Maziko Matemba has called for increased domestic resources for HIV response. “We want sustainability of HIV and Aids programmes since, currently, resources for the fight against the pandemic are dwindling compared to previous years.
“We want the donor community to be supporting more local non-governmental organisations that focus on HIV and Aids so that we can contain the further spread of HIV,” Matemba said. This is happening when Malawi just commemorated World Aids Day, which falls on December 1.
of HIV and Aids programmes
This year’s main activities took place on Sunday at the University of Malawi campus in Zomba, where the country also joined the rest of the world in commemorating Candlelight Memorial Day.
This year’s World Aids Day and Candlelight Memorial were held under the theme ‘Take The Right Path: Together We Remember, Together We End Aids’. The hope is that Malawians will renew their commitment to ending the era of Aids as a public health threat by 2030.
