Malawi Government has been urged by health experts and advocates to take full ownership, leadership, and responsibility for providing HIV services across the nation.
The call comes following years of international partners and organizations playing a significant role in supporting Malawi's fight against HIV.
Health expert Dr Dorothy Ngoma says reliance on external help undermines the country's long-term sustainability in managing the epidemic.
She said the transition should be accompanied by intensified HIV prevention, particularly prevention of mother-to-child transmission and protection of adolescents and young people.
Ngoma also called for stronger school health programmes and continuous HIV education, saying Malawi should use the expertise and systems developed through more than two decades of working alongside development partners
On his part Public Health activists Maziko Matemba said greater government leadership could help integrate HIV care into broader health services while strengthening the country’s resilience to changes in external financing.
“Transitioning leadership allows Malawi to seamlessly weave HIV care into general outpatient services,” she aid .
He said greater domestic ownership could also strengthen HIV financing, human resources and supply systems within government structures, reducing vulnerability to sudden changes in external support.
His comments come as the Ministry of Health and Sanitation conducts a nationwide readiness assessment ahead of the planned October transition to increased government responsibility for HIV services previously supported by implementing partners.
The Ministry says the assessment is aimed at identifying gaps in governance, staffing and essential commodities to ensure that districts and health facilities are prepared to maintain uninterrupted HIV services.
As part of the preparations, the government has trained more than 700 health workers to take over functions currently supported by partner-deployed personnel.
Matemba said the training and facility assessments were critical safeguards, particularly in preventing interruptions in treatment, medicines and health information management.
“Even a brief breakdown in the drug supply chain can cause widespread treatment default and drug resistance,” he said.
Malawi has an estimated 1,007,000 people living with HIV as it continues to expand treatment and reduce annual infections and deaths.
According to National AIDS Commission, recent epidemiological updates report roughly 14,200 new HIV infections occurs annually while about 13,000 people die due to AIDS-related causes.
While nearly 900,000 people in Malawi are receiving life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART), high prevalence persist in urban and commercial hubs like Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzuzu, Mangochi and Salima especially among young adults and key populations like sex workers and those who are in same sex relations.