Malawi doing well on Aids fight—UNAids

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

Malawi is among the few African countries currently doing well in the fight against HIV and Aids, United Nations Aids agency has said in its report ahead of the International Aids conference which will take place in Vienna next week.

Principal Secretary (PS) in the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) responsible for HIV/Aids and Nutrition, Dr. Mary Shawa, could not be reached for a comment, but Deputy Minister of Health Theresa Gloria Mwale attributed the success to the sound policies the current administration has put towards the fight against the disease.

UNAids has hailed a breakthrough in the fight against Aids with the release of figures showing that the prevalence of HIV has fallen among young people in 15 of the most affected countries.

The report shows that in 12 of those countries, HIV levels have decreased by 25 percent among 15- to 24-year-olds.

In 13 countries where research was carried out, young people were reported to be waiting longer before first having sex. Usually, this was among young women rather than young men, but in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Malawi and Zambia, both sexes were waiting longer.

The biggest drop was in Kenya, where HIV in 15- to 24-year-olds fell 60 percent between 2000 and 2005 to 5.4 percent in urban areas and to 3.6 percent in rural ones. Among young pregnant women in Ethiopia, the report shows a 47 percent decrease among in urban areas and 29 percent in rural areas.

In urban areas of Malawi and Côte d'Ivoire, the prevalence in the same group fell 56 percent and in Burundi and Haiti it dropped by nearly half. Reductions of more than a third took place in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Cote d'Ivoire, Rwanda and Lesotho.

“This in response, UNAids believes, to dogged prevention campaigns warning of the dangers of HIV/Aids and the need for people to change their sexual behaviour,” says the report as published by the Guardian of United Kingdom.

The head of UNAids Michel Sidibé, which released the report early this week, said young people were leading a badly needed prevention revolution in these countries.

"We are at the defining moment now, where we need to reshape completely the Aids response," said Michel Sidibé.

“Rising treatment costs for HIV and the global economic crisis means the world is demanding change. We cannot continue with the same response. It is not sustainable. It is very clear from public opinion region by region that Aids continues to be a top priority, but they are calling for a paradigm shift,” he explained.

Responding to the news yesterday, Deputy Minister of Health Theresa Gloria Mwale described the news as an “encouragement in the fight against Aids”.

Mwale commended Malawians for taking heed of HIV messages government and the civil society is disseminating through different channels.

“Obviously, we’re very happy that even international organizations have recognized our HIV interventions. You know Malawi was one of the first countries to give free ARVs to people living with HIV and Aids. So the news should encourage us to work even harder,” she said.

The deputy minister, however, warned people not to relent in their fight against the virus saying the battle is still on.

“I would like to advise all Malawians to continue listening to HIV/Aids messages being spread everyday through different channels and practice what we are being taught,” Mwale advised.

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