Malawi has lauded its progress in managing HIV and Aids and is now turning its focus to the global research into an HIV cure and vaccine whose timeline is yet to be advised.
National Aids Commission (NAC) acting chief executive officer Tione Chilambe told the National HIV Cure Stakeholder Dialogue in Lilongwe on Tuesday that the research seeks to prevent new infections and eliminate the virus from the human body.
She said early diagnosis and adherence to anti-retroviral therapy (ART) has enabled people living with HIV to achieve life expectancies comparable to those without the virus.
Said Chilambe: “But this is now a step further. Now that we are here, can we dare dream and say that we want to develop a vaccine so that we have zero new infections? Can we dare dream so that we can find the cure so we totally eradicate it?”
HIV, the virus that causes Aids, remains incurable and scientists face the challenge of eliminating viral reservoirs that persist in the body despite treatment.
Chilambe said ART can suppress HIV to undetectable levels, but does not remove it completely.
“But we want to get to a place where we can take it out completely. There will be no need to take medication,” she said.
The World Health Organisation says effective treatment enables people living with HIV to lead long, healthy lives and prevents sexual transmission when the virus is suppressed to undetectable levels.
Chilambe said participation in international research would help ensure Malawi was represented in scientific studies and that findings addressed the country’s needs.
Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS) Vice-Chancellor Professor McPherson Mallewa said research was essential to informing health policy, resource allocation and effective interventions.
“We must leverage research to inform policy, guide resource allocation and design interventions that are both effective and efficient,” he said.
Meanwhile, concerns over funding threaten the sustainability of existing HIV services.
KUHeS professor of epidemiology and public health Victor Mwapasa said government had increased domestic funding to prevent disruptions to life-saving programmes.
“Government had no other way of doing it, but to increase domestic funding, just to prevent severe disruption of life-saving HIV services,” he said.
Mwapasa warned that declining donor support could force the government to prioritise treatment over prevention, including condom provision, if resources remained constrained.
Development partners finance 77 percent of Malawi’s HIV expenditure, while domestic resources account for 23 percent, according to official reports.
The conference was organised by NAC in partnership with International Aids Society and AVAC.
NAC figures show that Malawi had 990 871 people living with HIV in 2024, with 896 035 receiving ART by December 2025.
The country recorded 11 757 new infections and 13 694 Aids-related deaths that year. Since 1985, 1 518 643 people have died from Aids-related illnesses, according to NAC.
