DAPP Malawi Accomplishments in Fighting HIV and AIDS
Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) Malawi began its work to tackle HIV and AIDS in 1998 when its first HOPE Humana project was launched. HOPE Humana established community HIV facilities that served as resource hubs and activity centres for everyone in a given community.
Building on this work, DAPP Malawi has worked closely with the Malawi government since 2007 to combat and prevent the spread of HIV, Tuberculosis (TB) and malaria through its innovative programme, Total Control of the Epidemic (TCE). TCE is a comprehensive and systematic HIV and AIDS prevention, support and care model that combines counseling, field-testing, education, and community mobilisation.
According to UNAIDS Malawi, progress has been made in curbing the number of HIV-related deaths since 2010 to 2018, with a 55% decrease, from 29,000 deaths to 13,000 deaths. Again, the number of new HIV infections has decreased, from 55,000 to 38,000 in the same period.
From 2007 - 2017, the TCE programme reached more than 1,5 million people with HIV prevention messages; over 800,000 were counseled on risks of HIV infection; and more than 500,000 people were tested for HIV; 16% tested as couples and 54% of the total number of people tested were women.
The programme adopts a house-to-house interpersonal campaign methodology that encourages lifestyle changes and preventive behavior, reaching every individual and household within a given area over a period of three years.
The TCE approach has helped to reduce the spread of TB by raising awareness. Through community mobilisation, there has been an increase in both access and demand for TB and HIV testing, as well as TB case detection. The intervention has helped to ensure treatment adherence through the innovative ‘TRIO system’, where two family members or close friends support HIV/TB clients during the critical initial weeks of treatment where loss-to-follow-up is common.
