Malawi

While gains made in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the past decade are encouraging, countries most affected by the pandemic continue to struggle to place enough people on treatment and implement the best science and strategies to fight the disease.

A decade after MSF started treating people living with HIV in Malawi's Chiradzulu district, it's clear that ARVs and proper care prolong life, prevent new transmissions, and allow people to regain their autonomy.

Without appropriate funding, the opportunity to reap the benefits of new science showing that HIV treatment both saves lives and helps prevent new infections could be lost.

Not long ago, it was tempting to think the battle against measles was being won. Stepped-up vaccination campaigns had driven the number of reported cases down to 32,000 in 2007, according to the World Health Organization, the lowest ever recorded. Over the past three years, however, there has been a resurgence.

As the Measles Initiative meets in Washington, D.C., MSF is calling for an effective outbreak response mechanism to be established immediately to deal with the rising numbers of severe outbreaks worldwide. 

While several countries hardest hit by HIV/AIDS are improving treatment protocols to reduce deaths and illness, a lack of donor support still prevents many from implementing vital changes.

In July 2002, Fred Minandi, one of MSF's first patients in Malawi to receive antiretroviral drugs, spoke about his daily life at the 14th international conference on HIV/AIDS, held in Barcelona.

New WHO directives on the treatment of HIV/AIDS bring new opportunities and new challenges, says MSF's former Head of Mission in Malawi.

Several low-income countries highly affected by HIV risk being entirely or partly disqualified from the current funding round by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Scores of people came to an MSF facility in Malawi in May to get vaccinated for measles.

MSF physician Cameron Bopp returned in July after several months in Africa. Here, he discusses his time in Malawi, during which he was tasked with overseeing the emergency response to the measles outbreak and setting up vaccination programs.

Dr. Neil Stone, a physician from Scotland, is working with MSF to respond to a major measles epidemic in Malawi in southern Africa.

In South Africa, where the FIFA World Cup is getting under way, MSF is trying to show that beating HIV/AIDS should be the ultimate goal.

Malawi has been facing its biggest measles epidemic in 13 years. Working with the local health authorities, MSF has launched a vaccination campaign for more than 2.5 million children.

The increase in availability of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) used to treat HIV in recent years, backed by solid funding commitments, has given millions of people in poor countries a new lease on life. This is the case for tens of thousands of people living with HIV/AIDS in Malawi’s southern Thyolo district. Here, Olesi Ellemani Pasulani, clinical officer for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) at the Thyolo District Hospital, shares his perspective on how improved access to care has changed the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS and the healthcare workers who treat them.

With approximately 930,000 infected persons, Malawi has one of the world's highest HIV/AIDS rates. But although 211 national facilities were offering free antiretroviral medicine (ARVs) as of late 2008, only 50 percent of patients had access to the drugs and another 290,000 were still awaiting treatment. To combat this alarming health emergency, MSF is applying a new decentralized HIV approach that brings treatment closer to the patients.

Marielle Bemelmans, MSF head of mission in Malawi, explains how universal access to HIV drugs works in Malawi and why the high prices of new HIV/AIDS drugs puts this great achievement in peril.

A cholera outbreak in Malawi that began in November has escalated considerably, with the number of cases growing by more than 100 percent in January. So far, 1,142 patients have been treated and 39 people have died.

Children account for around 350 of the 5,000 people living with HIV/AIDS who are receiving antiretroviral (ARV) treatment through Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Chiradzulu, Malawi. Since last spring, children have had their own appointment day. Grouping the children in a pediatric clinic means that they receive more appropriate medical and psychological care.

Malawi's health infrastructure is weak and has so far been unable to cope with this burden of chronic illness. Comprehensive HIV care and support, including HAART (Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy), is urgently needed.