Malawi gets $20m Aids grant

Malawi is receiving a $20 million (£12.5 million) grant to boost HIV/Aids tests among the population.

It is receiving the money from the Global Fund for antiretroviral medication and testing kits, Washington Kaimvi from Malawi's National AIDS Commission said.

The latest records show only 15 per cent of the population has been tested for the killer virus, which claims 80,000 lives in the African nation each year.

HIV/Aids has reduced life expectancy in Malawi to 36 years.

The government wants to test at least 1.5 million of the 12 million people in Malawi for the virus annually, reported Med India.

Mr Kaimvi said: "As of June, we had 184,405 patients on antiretroviral therapy, but we hope to reach over 200,000 soon."

HIV/Aids and diarrhoea are the biggest killers in Malawi where the average person can expect to stay healthy on average to the age of 35.

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