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Malawi HIV fights in Urban too hard

  1. Posted on Saturday 4 April 2009 - 11:39
    Harry
    Image of Harry
    Malawi’s main commercial city of Blantyre is a hub of entertainment and fun. It therefore declares itself, the wheel of HIV AIDS.
    With government having little interest to comb out the myriad and flourishing brothels business in the corners of the townships where men and women exchange money for sex, the virus is having a fertile land.
    Delays by National Aids Commission (Nac) to fund Blantyre City Assembly, an umbrella body for Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and other stakeholders advancing HIV and Aids initiatives, has paralysed the fight against the pandemic.
    The assembly has since bemoaned the situation, saying it was derailing the progress in the fight against the disease in the city.
    Blantyre City Assembly acting Chief Executive officer (CEO) Lester Bandawe said in an interview the assembly was failing to fulfil some of its operations aimed at reducing the impact of HIV and Aids among city residents.
    “The delay of the funds has affected local communities who are main beneficiaries to the money. It is our hope that the money will be released by end December. Blantyre Assembly is the biggest beneficiary of central government funding on HIV and Aids through NAC,” Bandawe said.
    Bandawe said the assembly was expecting to get about USD 29,136,390 with USD 50, 000 of the total funding going towards orphans support and USD 2086330 for CBOs and other stakeholders operations.
    He added that the assembly has managed to reduce HIV prevalence rate in the city to less than 10 percent.
    “There has been tremendous progress so far, the prevalence rate has gone down its now less than 10 percent from 14.5 percent. But according to People Based Survey the rate is between 9.8 and 10 percent,” he said
    Meanwhile, the assembly is working with 165 CBOs in the fight against the virus apart from running its own clinic through which it provides Antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) to 1,000 people living with Aids.

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