Project targets 500 000 adolescents
About 500 000 young people nationwide have been targeted as beneficiaries of a K670 million health project that seeks to provide them with quality health care.
The project titled Narrowing the Gap: Scaling up Adolescents’ Access to Quality Information and Utilisation of Services on HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support, will be jointly implemented by Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and Malawi GIZ Health Programme in 10 districts.
The districts are Balaka, Blantyre, Nsanje, Chikwawa and Thyolo in Southern Region Dedza, Ntcheu and Lilongwe in the Centre. Mzimba South and North (Mzuzu) in the North.
NCA programme manager Esther Masika said in Blantyre the project aims at ensuring that adolescents, aged between 10 and 19, are knowledgeable about issues of prevention, care and treatment of HIV and Aids.
Said Masika: “The project seeks to increase the number of informed adolescents on issues of HIV and Aids as well as reproductive health through, among others, reduction of new HIV infections. If Malawi is to change the future, there is need for provision of quality health care to these young people.”
Thyolo district health officer (DHO) Michael Murowa said he hoped the project will significantly promote sexual and reproductive health in relation to HIV and Aids among adolescents.
GIZ has been funding the project that started three years ago in conjuction with Unicef. However, in its last phase which ends in June 2016, NCA has taken over as the new coordinating partner.
