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Imago Dei.
STATEMENT ON THE FAITH COMMUNITY REACTION OVER THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT CASE BY TWO PERSONS SEEKING CLARITY ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL STANCE ON MALAWI’S SEX LAWS ON THE BASIS OF BEING DISCRIMINATORY.
By MANERELA+
MANERELA+ is an interfaith registered organization in Malawi that was birthed to advocate, engage and fight against any form of faith driven stigma, discrimination, Inertia Mis-action in the context of HIV and its related vices. The organization emerged from a backdrop of the lack of action from faith at the epic point of HIV and AIDS, where discrimination was the key driver, embedded in the messaging and lack of encouragement and hopelessness that was directed at people living with or personally affected by the HIV and AIDS. MANERELA+ was born to act as a catalyst for creation of a conducive environment through identification and engagement of faith leaders who could champion the reversal of the then prevailing situation.
Lobi Health Centre, Dedza.
CS-CLMA CONTRIBUTING TO THE MALAWI NATIONAL HIV RESPONSE
By Starphel Sithole
The Revised Malawi National Strategic Plan for HIV and AIDS 2020-2025 says empowerment, involvement and engagement of community structures especially recipients of care and gate keepers in the community such as block leaders and Religious Leaders is one of the core pillars guiding the work towards the fight against HIV (Malawi National Strategic Plan for HIV and AIDS response 2020 to 2025).
Training Session at Chankhanga TDC, Kasungu.
Differentiated Service Delivery (DSD) model Helps in Curbing Defaulting.
By Starphel Sithole
The introduction of Differentiated Service Delivery (DSD) model in delivering healthcare services to recipients of care has proved to be helpful in preventing defaulting from treatment by most recipients of care in Kasungu district.
This was revealed during a Community-Led Monitoring and Advocacy (CS-CLMA) project volunteers training on data collection by Malawi Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV and AIDS (MANERELA+) on 21 September 2022 in the district.
Dr. Emmanuel Golombe, Kasungu DHSS.
Stakeholders Trained on HIV & AIDS Interventions.
By Starphel Sithole
Malawi Network of Religious Leaders living with or persons affected by HIV and AIDS (MANERELA+) has trained stakeholders on community led HIV interventions in Kasungu district.
Kasungu District Director of Health and Social Services, Dr. Emmanuel Golombe who facilitated the training, highlighted the need to streamline efforts towards curbing rampant spread of HIV and motivate those who tested positive to remain on treatment.
Brown Chiwandira- Ministry of Health Programs Officer at the Department of HIV, STIS and Viral Hepatitis.
MANERELA+ Engages Government on HIV Treatment structures.
By Starphel Sithole
Malawi Network of Religious Leaders Living or Affected with HIV/AIDS (MANERELA+) has roped in government to boost its collaborative efforts towards the fight against HIV and AIDS in order to orient communities especially recipients of care as well as gatekeepers in the groups which include chiefs, block and religious leaders on treatment structures in Kasungu district;
Speaking during the Community Led Monitoring training at Ministry of Health Programs Officer at the Department of HIV, STIS and Viral Hepatitis Brown Chiwandira said, empowering communities with effective HIV knowledge is one of top priority agenda of Ministry of Health.
Group Photo at Mnyanja Health Centre in Kasungu.
Citizen Science-Community-Led Monitoring and Advocacy (CS-CLMA) feedback meeting.
MANERELA+ on November 14 and November 15 conducted meetings in Kasungu under the Citizen Science-Community-Led Monitoring and Advocacy (CS-CLMA) project. On Monday, the organization held a feedback meeting between community members around Mnyanja Health Centre and health workers at the facility. On Tuesday, MANERELA+ conducted an advocacy meeting that targeted the youth aged 15 to 25 around Chamwavi Health Centre in the district.
At both events, the MANERELA+ team, which was led by Programme Manager Carol Cassam, was accompanied by Mr. Prince Nkhata, who is the Technical Advisor – Global Health Initiatives at GIZ Malawi, who wanted to appreciate the activities that MANERELA+ is implementing in the district.
Carolyn Kassam Director of programs, Manerela+
MANERELA+ Scalling Up Advocacy Through Citizen Science-Community Led Monitoring.
By Christer Mercy Kalukusha
Stakeholders in the fight against HIV have advised Malawi Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV (MANERELA+) to scale up its advocacy by raising the profile of phase two of the four-year (2020-2024) Citizen Science Community Led Monitoring and Advocacy (CS-CLMA) project which it is implementing in partnership with the Network Of Journalists Living with HIV (JONEHA).
Young People locked in a Focus Group Discussion at Mnyanja Health Centre in Kasungu
Young People Living with HIV facing challenges to ending AIDS
By Joseph Ganthu
Focus group discussions (FGDs) conducted by young recipients of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) at Kaluluma, Mnyanja and Chamwabvi health centres in Kasungu district revealed some of the factors contributing to low viral load suppression rates among youths aged between 15 and 24 years; a situation that can hinder Malawi from ending AIDS by 2030.
Women in Group Discussion at Kaluluma Health Centre in Kasungu
Recipients of care bemoan unavailability of Bactrim.
By John Folena
Recipients of care through focus group discussions (FGDs) comprising of key populations (KPs), Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW), Men Living with HIV (MLHIV), Women Living with HIV (WLHIV) and Young People Living with HIV (YPLHIV) expressed their concern on the persistent stock outs of essential drugs particularly Bactrim medically called Co-trimoxazole at their respective health facilities. They observed that Bactrim is no longer dispensed as in the past at public ART clinics since COVID 19 emerged.