Malawi to Test 250,000 People for HIV in One Week

Malawi on Monday kicked off a one-week campaign that will seek to test 250,000 people for HIV at 810 sites in the nation’s 28 districts.

“The campaign is being launched on a broad and large scale to allow all Malawians to know their status and become eligible to benefit from rapidly expanding opportunities for prevention, treatment, care, and support services,” said Halima Daudi, deputy health minister, who took an HIV test at the launch along with other politicians.

Youths, who comprise half of Malawi’s 14 million people, will be a special focus. One in 10 Malawians have HIV.

 The number of people receiving free antiretrovirals has grown to 300,000, up from 5,000 in 2004.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.

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