Malawi

The national scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Malawi is based on a public health approach, with principles and practices borrowed from the successful DOTS tuberculosis control framework. During the first 6 years, the number of patients registered on treatment increased from 3,000 to >350,000 in both the public and private sectors.

Among adults eligible for antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Thyolo (rural Malawi) and Kibera (Nairobi, Kenya), this study (1) reports on retention and attrition during the preparation phase and after starting ART and (2) identifies risk factors associated with attrition.

Objective  To describe how district-wide access to HIV/AIDS care was achieved and maintained in Thyolo District, Malawi. Method  In mid-2003, the Ministry of Health and Médecins Sans Frontières developed a model of care for Thyolo district (population 587 455) based on decentralization of care to health centres and community sites and task shifting.

Drawing on evidence from Malawi and Ethiopia, this article analyses the eff ects of ARTscale-up interventions on human resources policies, service delivery and general health outcomes, and explores how synergies can be maximized.

Background: HIV prevalence among pregnant women in Malawi is 12.6%, and mother-to-child transmission is a major route of transmission. As PMTCT services have expanded in Malawi in recent years, we sought to determine uptake of services, HIV-relevant infant feeding practices and mother-child health outcomes.

The WHO 2010 guidelines specify that a CD4 cell count is crucial to decisions about the eligibility of HIV-infected pregnant women for lifelong antiretroviral treatment (ART). In Malawi, however, access to CD4 cell count analysis is minimal.

For the past few months we have been working with our colleagues to prepare Malawi’s antiretroviral treatment (ART) scale-up plan for 2006–0. This poor landlocked country is gripped by a serious HIV epidemic. With a population of almost 12 million, Malawi has an HIV/AIDS burden the same size as that of the USA; nearly 1 million people are infected with HIV.