Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Foundation has appealed for ongoing global commitment to continue providing, consistent resources to help improve retention, adherence and viral load suppression for children and adolescents living with HIV in Malawi.
The foundation’s executive director, Phoebe Nyasulu made the appeal on Tuesday when Norwegian young politicians visited Baylor college clinical centre of excellence for paediatric care in Lilongwe.
Nyasulu said, there is need for continued innovative programming, new formulations like fixed-dose combinations for younger children and long-acting injectable ARVs, and a commitment to seeing children and adolescents through a lifetime of care.
“You have heard about our approach to adolescents with HIV through our teen club model which cares for and provides services to our adolescents who are going through critical and sensitive time of youth transition from childhood to adulthood,” She said.
” We are working to apply our model of longitudinal care for HIV to all children and adolescents managing chronic illness which we know is a top concern for the global fund” she said,
In his remarks, chief of party for global fund grants, World Vision Malawi Dr. Bizwik Mwale appealed for more support from well-wishers to support Baylor and other organisations that are supporting children and adolescents living with HIV.
” We wish we had enough resources in order to increase our allocation to Baylor but also to support others who are doing teen club programming. Currently, we are supporting teen club programming in 14 districts. We wish we had more resources so as to reach to each and every adolescent.
” We are happy that the Norwegian young politicians have visited Malawi to appreciate the investment which the Norwegian government is making through the global fund to Malawi. And we believe that the visit will help in continued global support,” He said,
During the visit, the adolescents living with HIV shared their testimonies on how teen club programming is helping them to live positively and also showcased their talents and skills.
Reported By Sellah Singini
