Malawi has one of the highest HIV rates of prevalence in the world at 9.6%: one in ten people in the country is HIV-positive. For over 20 years MSF has been working to tackle HIV in Chiradzulu district. Over the past few years MSF teams have developed HIV programmes specifically addressed to the younger patient cohorts.
While many medical and psycho-social issues are common among all HIV-positive people, children and teenagers face some very specific issues. These include discovering their HIV status at a very early age, sometimes before they’re even able to fully grasp the nature of their condition; being stigmatised and discriminated at an age when the psyche can be particularly vulnerable; not having achieved full maturity and therefore being less aware of the importance of strictly following the treatment. All of which need a specific adaptation of the HIV activities to this particular patient cohort. The Teen Clubs are a response to this particular need.
MSF’s Saturday Teen Clubs are held weekly in various locations across the Chiradzulu district and are open to people living with HIV aged 10 to 19; the activity includes clinical consultations, individual counselling, health education, sexual and reproductive health services, group support sessions, mental health services and point-of-care diagnostics. All of this takes place in a safe space where HIV-positive teenagers can be with their peers sharing the same conditions, some of whom act as mentors to help the younger or newer cohorts; social and recreational activities are organised to create a positive, playful environment which encourages participation and has a positive effect on morale.