Malawi’s religious leaders warned against discouraging ARVs

Religious leaders in Malawi have been urged to encourage their followers living with HIV to take anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs rather than discouraging them in the name of faith.

The statement was stated in Phalombe during a sensitisation campaign that health personnel conducted in the district.

Speaking during the event, Phalombe Aids Coordinator Harrison Phiri said religious leaders should stop the act of discouraging people living with the virus from taking their ARVs.

He added that the best thing is to ask the people to practise their faith while taking the drugs.

“It very worrisome that the religious leaders are the ones who are at the forefront encouraging this habit instead of encouraging them to keep on taking the ARVs,” he explained

Phiri therefore asked religious leaders in the district and the country to avoid the act of stopping people living with HIV from taking their medicine in the name of faith.

Statistics shows that Phalombe is the district which has highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS with 16.7 percent of the district’s population living with the virus.