Mutharika says Malawi to eradicate HIV/Aids by 2030

Malawian President Prof. Arthur Peter Mutharika and his government has been hailed for demonstrating high level commitment in the national and global fight against HIV and AIDS.

Speaking when he called on President Mutharika in Johannesburg South Africa where the President is there for African Union summit, United Nations Under Secretary-General and UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe said Malawi remains a model in the global AIDS fight.

Sidibe said Malawi has led in committing to a number of ambitious and risky targets aimed at reducing or eradicating the pandemic.

“Malawi was the first country that to introduce the Option B+. You were also the first to sign the 90-90-90 treatment target to help end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Mr. President Sir, we are very impressed with the risks that you are ready to undertake. This shows commitment.

“It is because of this that Malawi received the highest amount of funds from the Global Fund in Africa, it is because of the credibility of your case and efforts,” said Sidibe.

Speaking earlier, President Mutharika reported that Malawi has set out an ambitious plan to eradicate HIV and AIDS by 2030 as set out in the 90-90-90 treatment target.

He said treatment and prevention is his administration’s priority, including mother to child transmission of HIV.

“We managed to eradicate leprosy, measles and other diseases we can achieve that. We have managed to reduce the new infection rate by 65 percent. I am glad that we are just one point away from achieving zero percent mother to child transmission of HIV.

“We just need to remain focused, with more commitment and resources we will achieve this in no time. My government is at the moment in the process of procuring 8.5 million ARV’s for the 2015/2017 period,” he said.

Mutharika hailed UNAIDS for what he termed as g wonderful work the organisation is doing in Malawi in the fight against the HIV and AIDS epidemic.

He said the organisation has been instrumental in Malawi’s recent success to secure the $USD611 million HIV funding from the Global Fund as well as assisting us with the National HIV/AIDS Strategic plan among several others initiatives.

“We are grateful to you for the support that you gave us by assisting with resources for our team to go and present our case. You supported us technically  and we ended up being given $USD37 million more than what we applied for,” Mutharika said.

During the audience Sidibe was accompanied by several officials including the UNAIDS representative to the AU  semary Museminari and UNECA, Prof. Shira Tlou regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa and Amakobe Sande UNAIDS Country Director for Malawi.

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