LUANAR urged communities in Mitundu to go for HIV testing.

By Alinafe Nyanda.

Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) has urged communities at Mkumba village in Mitundu to go for voluntary counselling and testing to know their status.

LUANAR’s deputy head of department of Human Ecology,Dr Yananda Madhlopa  made the call Saturday, in Lilongwe during the institution fourth year’s, bachelor of Science in gender and development ,students research and outreach innovation.

In her address Dr Madhlopa describe the exercise as success, saying as an institution they are overwhelmed with people who wanted to know their statuses.

“The innovation had a great turnout that has encouraged them to continue providing such mobile testing exercises in hard-to-reach areas so that people living in this area should not consider themselves forgotten or abandoned in issues of HIV testing and counselling,” Madhlopa explained.

Chiseka child protection officer, Semu Banda expressed concern with high prevalence rate in the area, saying its high time now people go for voluntary testing and counselling to know their status to contain the spread of the pandemic.

On her part one of the students, Esther Kamba said though government has made HTC a priority in its strategic plan, but there is a dearth of literature on the perspectives of providers on the quality of HTC services in the country.

Among other things the students utilized partners such as Napham,Pakachere and Mitundu health center to intensify awareness campaigns and efforts to fight the pandemic.

The exercise which targeted 4000 community members from Mkumba village saw over 300 people getting tested and counselled.