Statements and Webcast
Malawi
H.E. Mrs. Callista Mutharika, First Lady
9 June 2011
- Statement: English (Check against delivery)
Statement Summary
CALLISTA MUTHARIKA, First Lady of Malawi, said she had been appointed as the Coordinator of Safe Motherhood, Nutrition, HIV and AIDS, including preventing mother-to-child transmission. In recent years, Malawi had raised $300 million, which had helped to decrease new infections, reduce HIV prevalence and increase HIV testing. Now, 100 per cent of HIV-positive pregnant women were attending antenatal clinics to receive a complete dose of antiretroviral prophylaxis. Health systems were being strengthened, with 2,800 health workers and 5,300 front-line health workers trained and retrained.
Additionally, she noted, more than 35,000 households with orphans and vulnerable children were receiving social support, and some 240,000 had benefited from direct-cash transfer. Still, Malawi faced inadequate financial and human resources, insufficient capacity to track clients on antiretroviral therapy to ensure adherence and low community and male participation in the national response. To address that, the new HIV and AIDS policy should be reviewed and finalized and its resources strategy mobilized. Additionally, efforts towards local production of antiretroviral drugs must be advanced.
Source: GA/11090