Malawi National Strategic Plan for HIV and AIDS 2020-2025
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Date
2020-01-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Malawi Government
Abstract
As Malawi strives to meet the aspirations of the Agenda 2063 through the development of its own longterm
development plan, the National Transformation Framework 2063; my Government recognizes that
HIV is one of the major development risks that has to be mitigated. Therefore, through this National
Strategic Plan (NSP) the country is committed to ensure that all necessary HIV and AIDS control measures
are implemented so that we reduce the impact of HIV and AIDS and eliminate HIV as a public health threat
by 2030 in line with the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS. We
have favourable legal, policy and political environment to achieve this goal. My Government enacted the
HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Management) Act number 9 of 2018 in order to create the conductive legal
environment to prevent and manage HIV and AIDS; and HIV and AIDS prevention and management is one
of the key priorities in the 2017-2022 Malawi Growth and Development Strategy III.
The development of NSP could not have happened at a more opportune time than this: Malawi has just
successfully made significant achievements towards achieving the global 90:90:90 Fast-Track Targets set
out in the predecessor NSP; there are a lot of new products and new evidence on strategies that can be
used for the elimination of AIDS as a public health threat; and there has never been more commitment to
end AIDS both nationally and globally.
This NSP comes at a time when there are some challenges. Despite achievements on the treatment
targets, Malawi has lagged in its response to some key and vulnerable populations and still has
unacceptably high numbers of new infections and AIDS related deaths. Malawi has not taken full
advantage of the opportunities presented to it by the more advanced tools to combat HIV and AIDS. As
such, this NSP calls for critical game changers that are cost-effective and targeted to achieve tangible
impact on prevention, treatment and care services for HIV and AIDS and related infections. It requires
building blocks at all levels of the health system from the national, local authority to community levels to
be able to win and sustain the fight. This is the hallmark of this NSP. Using available evidence, program
implementation experience and knowledge, it builds up on the emphasis of and achievement of scale that
characterized the previous NSP, to focus on the delivery of targeted, high impact interventions and leaving
no-one behind; while building a resilient and sustainable health system.
This NSP demonstrates the commitment of the Government of Malawi through the Ministry of Health,
National AIDS Commission (NAC) and all partners and stakeholders in the fight against HIV and AIDS. It is
a useful resource and provides guidance on the priorities of the government, the strategies recommended
and the resources required to implement them. It will help to coordinate and consolidate all the efforts
by all players in the HIV and AIDS sector for greater impact.