Local and district stakeholders in Thyolo are calling for the extension of the Kids Health, Kids Rights Project, saying its continuation is crucial for sustaining gains in HIV prevention, testing and treatment among children.

The two-year initiative, implemented by Thunga Community-Based Organisation (CBO) from January 2024 to December 2025, works with volunteer Mentor Mothers, Y+ girls and Male Champions to test children aged 0–14 for HIV and trace those who have defaulted from antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Thyolo District Social Welfare Officer, Tobby Milanzi, said the project has been instrumental in improving health referrals and reducing barriers to treatment.

“The project helped link children living with HIV to essential health and social services. Guardians have been empowered with business skills, Village Savings and Loan groups (VSLs), soap making and tailoring. These skills ensure that children’s needs continue to be met at household level even after the project,” he said.

Milanzi further noted that an extension should include HIV-sensitive case management and broader coverage due to persistent challenges with ART adherence.

“Adherence remains a concern among children, often because of parental neglect. Expansion would help address this gap,” he added.

Volunteers under the project mobilised communities for HIV testing through mobile clinics supported by health personnel from Amarika, Gombe, Ngomano and Didi health centres.

Mentor Mothers Annie Katuli and Chipiliro Naligonje from Gunde Village, Senior Chief Inkosi Bvumbwe, applauded the project for transforming access to early testing.

“Many children were never tested because of long distances, negligence or lack of interest from parents. If this project ends, we may fail to reach those still in need. We plead for its extension,” Katuli said.

Naligonje highlighted the programme’s role in preventing mother-to-child transmission.

“We have helped many HIV-positive women understand the importance of starting antenatal care early, and this has reduced transmission to children,” she said.

Male Champion Jussab Mulamba from Tayali Village, Senior Chief Inkosi Bvumbwe, also stressed the importance of sustained interventions targeting men.

“We meet men in tea estates, drinking joints and even at bawo matches to raise awareness on HIV and child protection. After these interventions, cases of sexual harassment and other abuses against girls have declined in the area,” he said.

Thunga CBO Executive Director, Patrick Chakwana, said the project has strengthened the organisation’s technical and financial capacity.

“This project has been successful, reaching thousands of children, pregnant women and lactating mothers. A total of 11,875 people have been tested for HIV, and 62 children identified with HIV have been enrolled and supported. We have also traced and returned 391 drug defaulters to treatment.

“Under the Ndife Amodzi—Know Your Rights component, we documented 534 cases of abuse and discrimination across five Traditional Authorities. We trained 225 women in income-generating activities such as soap making and tailoring, and provided livestock, including 10 goats and 30 pigs. This initiative has built our capacity to manage projects of any magnitude, and even as it phases out, our volunteers will continue working to sustain the gains,” Chakwana said.

The project is being implemented by a consortium of NGOs—COWLHA, Y+ Malawi and REACH Trust—in Thyolo, Nkhata Bay and Chiradzulu, with funding from AIDS Fonds of the Netherlands amounting to £350,000 (about K700 million).