Malawi National Association of the Deaf (Manad) and National Aids Commission (NAC) have embarked on a campaign to disseminate HIV messages among people with disabilities in Ntchisi District. He said traditional modes of communication such as radio, music, jingles and public address systems are inaccessible to the deaf community, thereby limiting their access to crucial health information. “It is from this background that Manad, which is a grantee under the Pepfar [US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief]-supported project dubbed Making HIV and Aids and SRH Information Accessible in Malawian Sign Language, has engaged NAC to address this communication gap,” said Kufakwina.
As part of the campaign, Manad and NAC used sign language to disseminate HIV and SRH information among adolescent women and girls with hearing disabilities in the district. Participants also received content utilisation training and community engagement sessions, and were provided with flash disks containing NAC-validated HIV and Aids key messages to enable them to share the information with peers in their respective communities. NAC HIV prevention and management officer Francis Mabedi said the commission’s mandate is to intensify efforts to curb the spread of HIV in the country.
