Ministry of Health is banking on continued collaboration with stakeholders in preventing HIV drug resistance, if the country is to fight HIV and AIDS effectively.
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr Samson Mndolo, made the remarks in Lilongwe during a stakeholders’ conference on HIV resistance in Malawi.
According to Mndolo, Malawi has over 950,000 people on antiretroviral treatment, with more than 400 cases of HIV drug resistance.
Mndolo said there is a need for counseling and awareness so that people take their medicine as prescribed.
Head of Programmes and Clinical Services at Community of Sant’egidio, Dr Sangare Hawa Mamary, said Malawi is performing well in HIV care as compared to other African countries, hence the need to put in place deliberate mechanisms in dealing with HIV drug resistance.
Meanwhile, the supervisor for Dream Lab, Davide Brambilla, said investing funds towards the fight against HIV is critical in supporting and improving people’s livelihoods, hence calls for synergies to fill the financial burden in the HIV fight.
