Malawi is bolstering efforts to protect its phenomenal progress in the fight against HIV as sudden donor funding cuts, especially from the United States (US), threaten vital services.
Like many countries, Malawi has long relied on support from the United States through the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), but recent budget reductions have threatened to disrupt key HIV services.
This concern featured prominently at the recent 2025 International Aids Society Conference on HIV Science held in Kigali, Rwanda.
At home, some health facilities have reported shortages of HIV testing kits and reduced community outreach activities.
National Aids Commission (NAC) official Tione Chilambe said Malawi in its sustainability plan had expected donor support to reduce over time, but not as quickly as it has, especially around HIV prevention services.
“We knew the money would eventually reduce, but not in such a sudden way,” she said.
To keep services running, Chilambe said the government responded by allocating K1 billion towards HIV treatment co-financing and K0.5 billion was set aside to hire and train more health workers.
Meanwhile, Unaids has warned that if the funding gap is not filled, there could be an additional six million HIV infections and four million Aids-related deaths globally by 2029.
“We cannot let funding cuts wipe out the gains we’ve made,” said Unaids executive director Winnie Byanyima.
On his part, Musa Manganye, head of HIV treatment in South Africa, said what matters is the budget line.
