WHO support to encourage HIV testing

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced plans to establish 55 Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) centres in Malawi to encourage more people to undergo HIV/AIDS testing. The outgoing resident representative of WHO, William Aldis, noted that in any HIV/AIDS campaign, knowing your sero status was a stepping stone in countering the spread of the pandemic. Aldis said, "WHO feels Malawi is doing a lot in her efforts to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS ... To complement this effort, WHO will next year open up 55 VCT centres so that more people should undergo VCT, which is the genesis of behaviour change." Research by the country's National AIDS Commission (NAC) suggested that HIV/AIDS prevalence rates would decline to 14.6 percent by 2003, from 14.4 percent in 2001.