News / Africa
Prostitutes and cops top HIV list in Malawi
28 Jun 2013 at 13:10hrs | Views
Commercial sex workers and police officers are rated high on the list of group of people affected with HIV/AIDS epidemic in Malawi.
Sex workers top the list with 70.7 percent whereas the cops are at 75 percent, according to 2012 UNaids report.
However, the UNaids report released this week in Geneva, Switzerland says Malawi and six other countries have reduced new HIV infections among children by 50 percent since 2009.
The report also says Malawi has demonstrated innovation by pioneering lifelong access to antiretroviral therapy for all HIV positive pregnant women, known as option B+.
"Malawi has been able to increase antiretroviral therapy coverage during both pregnancy and the breastfeeding period by decentralizing treatment services and offering lifelong HIV treatment to all pregnant and breastfeeding women as the central tenet of its national programme to stop the mother-to-child transmission of HIV," reads the report in part.
It further observes that progress registered in the majority countries is a strong signal that with focused efforts every child can be born free from HIV.
Meanwhile, government says it is ready to host the first UNaids and Lancet Commission Summit slated for this weekend.
The summit, according to principal secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Clement Chithu Phiri, would be largely funded by UNaids while Malawi government will provide security and shoulder transport costs for the high-profile individuals.
Over 30 high-profile figures among them former president of Brazil Luiz Inacio, First Lady of Gabon Sylvia Bongo Ondimba, former president of Botswana Festus Mogae, first lady of Rwanda Jeanette Kagame, UNaids Executive Director Michael Sidibe and Executive Director of the Global Fund, Mark Dybul will also be in attendance.
The UN Aids and Lancet Commission: From Aids to Sustainable Health is co-chaired by President Joyce Banda, Chairperson of the African Union Commission Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and Peter Piot, Executive Director of London School of Tropical Medicine.
The main agenda of the commission is to engage with various sectors of the global society to deliberate on strategies to ensure that the vision of having zero infections, zero discrimination and zero Aids-related death, can be realised.
Sex workers top the list with 70.7 percent whereas the cops are at 75 percent, according to 2012 UNaids report.
However, the UNaids report released this week in Geneva, Switzerland says Malawi and six other countries have reduced new HIV infections among children by 50 percent since 2009.
The report also says Malawi has demonstrated innovation by pioneering lifelong access to antiretroviral therapy for all HIV positive pregnant women, known as option B+.
"Malawi has been able to increase antiretroviral therapy coverage during both pregnancy and the breastfeeding period by decentralizing treatment services and offering lifelong HIV treatment to all pregnant and breastfeeding women as the central tenet of its national programme to stop the mother-to-child transmission of HIV," reads the report in part.
It further observes that progress registered in the majority countries is a strong signal that with focused efforts every child can be born free from HIV.
The summit, according to principal secretary in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Clement Chithu Phiri, would be largely funded by UNaids while Malawi government will provide security and shoulder transport costs for the high-profile individuals.
Over 30 high-profile figures among them former president of Brazil Luiz Inacio, First Lady of Gabon Sylvia Bongo Ondimba, former president of Botswana Festus Mogae, first lady of Rwanda Jeanette Kagame, UNaids Executive Director Michael Sidibe and Executive Director of the Global Fund, Mark Dybul will also be in attendance.
The UN Aids and Lancet Commission: From Aids to Sustainable Health is co-chaired by President Joyce Banda, Chairperson of the African Union Commission Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and Peter Piot, Executive Director of London School of Tropical Medicine.
The main agenda of the commission is to engage with various sectors of the global society to deliberate on strategies to ensure that the vision of having zero infections, zero discrimination and zero Aids-related death, can be realised.
Source - Nyasa Times
