Malawi

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.