Former president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and other prominent leaders across the world will visit Malawi for the first ever UNAids and Lancet Commission Summit scheduled to take place in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe at the Bingu International Conference Centre from June 28 to 29.
The commission is co-chaired by President Joyce Banda, African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazama Dlamini Zuma and director of London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Dr. Peter Piot.
Special adviser to the President, the Reverend MacDonald Sembereka, said on Wednesday that the commission will engage various sectors of society to agree on what needs to be done to end Aids.
“UNAids and Lancet Commission is on the run to realise its vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero Aids-related deaths in the coming decades,” said Sembereka.
He said the commission has put Banda on its board because of her role in HIV and Aids issues and the fact that Malawi has continued to be in the lead in the fight against Aids.
National Aids Commission (NAC) executive director Thomas Bisika said Malawi took the risk to adopt option B plus in which all HIV-infected pregnant and breastfeeding women are eligible for antiretroviral therapy (ART).
