MALAWI: AIDS effort lauded amid complacency concerns

JOHANNESBURG, 14 June 2006 (PlusNews) - Senior UN and British officials lauded Malawi's progress against HIV/AIDS at the end of a three-day mission on Wednesday, but warned against complacency.

UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot and Suma Chakrabarti, of the UK's Department for International Development, noted that in just two years the number of people receiving antiretrovirals increased from less than 4,000 to almost 50,000, while HIV testing had risen from 16,000 to some 500,000 at present.

"We are at a turning point in AIDS response in Africa and are starting to see ... countries in East Africa reporting good results due to access to testing and treatment," Piot said in a statement.

He warned, however, that these important anti-AIDS sucesses could be erased by complacency taking hold.