Mzimba South District Health Office (DHO) key population coordinator Dan Kwacha has commended Malawi Aids Counselling and Resource Organisation (Macro) for improving access to HIV services in Mzimba District.
Macro has been implementing a project that has enabled people living with HIV to have reliable access to health services such as HIV testing and counselling, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and care for newly diagnosed HIV clients.
Speaking on Wednesday at a District Aids Coordinating Committee meeting aimed at reviewing the performance of Macro’s Impact Project and Regency Surveillance Project, Kwacha said Macro has helped people living with HIV due to its strategic approach such as referrals.
“We have seen improvements in the access of health services,” he said.
On his part, Macro programmes manager Enoch Maulana said the projects created an impact through peer education, micro planning strategy and capacity building.
“We have 42 peer educators in health facilities who identify clients from the targeted population and refer them to the health facilities to access the services,” he said.
Maulana said the situation has improved as many people living with HIV are now able to access treatment.
He said: “We have ensured good collaboration between public health facilities and our staff.
“Before the projects rolled out, there were few people who had access to the services, but the numbers have increased. Over the past two years, the accumulative figures for females and males who have accessed PrEP were 1 631 and 264 respectively.”
Maulana assured the projects’ sustainability through peer educators who have the capacity and knowledge to keep on pushing for the ethical behaviours as they phase out this year.
Macro was implementing the projects with support from Centre for Disease Control.
