Kalirani says 1m in Malawi living with HIV: Drop in infections:

The number of people living with HIV in Malawi is said to be around 1,060,000, Minister of Health Dr Jean Kalirani told parliament, saying of these 147,000 are children and 913,000 are alduts.

Presenting her ministerial statement, Kalirani said Malawi continues recording success stories in response to HIV and AIDS with the latest being the drop in the national prevalence rate, saying the number of new HIV infections annually has dropped “substantially” from 120,000 as it were in 1999 to 33,000 in 2014.

The prevalence rate has dropped to 10.6 percent in 2014 from 14 per cent in 1994, according to Kalirani.

The drop in the prevalence rate has also resulted in a sharp decline of HIV and AIDS related deaths in the country.

Kalirani said government has increased the number of HIV/Aids testing sites from 9 in 2003 to875 in 2014.

She said the number of patients in need of treatment and accessing antiretroviral therapy has increased from 3,000 in 2003 to 520,000 in 2014.

“Government is also providing free ARVs to all HIV positive pregnant women irrespective of their CD4 count,” she said.

The Minister said HIV/Aids remain a key health, social and economic problem confronting households and the country

Kalirani also told Parliament that malaria cases in the country have drastically dropped due to the efficient distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets across the country.

The minister also hailed government efforts on cholera as there have been no reported cases for three years now.