Department of HIV and AIDS, Ministry of Health (CHSU), Malawi

The Department of HIV and AIDS of Malawi's Ministry of Health, now styled the Directorate of HIV, STI and Viral Hepatitis, is the government body that coordinates the national HIV programme. It is based in Lilongwe, Malawi. According to its own website, the directorate was established in 2001, initially as a unit in the Department of Clinical Services, to coordinate the biomedical HIV programme in Malawi. It is responsible for a range of HIV-related programmes, including sexually transmitted infections (STIs), prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) and the national voluntary male medical circumcision (VMMC) programme, and it gives its strength as 45 technical staff. Its monitoring and evaluation sub-section works technically under the ministry's Central Monitoring and Evaluation Department (CMED). Treatment sites can call a toll-free hotline run by the directorate for help with HIV commodity management and supply. The directorate's website uses the name Directorate of HIV, STI and Viral Hepatitis, while the Ministry of Health's list of directorates gives it as the Directorate of HIV & AIDS and Viral Hepatitis. The Ministry of Health has its headquarters at Capital Hill in Lilongwe and runs more than half of Malawi's health facilities, from central hospitals to health posts. HIV/AIDS is one of the priority conditions in the ministry's Essential Health Package. In 2011 Malawi became the first country to adopt the "Option B+" approach, offering lifelong antiretroviral therapy to all pregnant and breastfeeding women diagnosed with HIV; the World Health Organization later took the approach into its guidance. Lilongwe has been Malawi's capital since 1975, when the seat of government moved there from Zomba. The directorate has not published a telephone number or opening hours of its own; the Ministry of Health gives its main line as +265 1 789 400 and its postal address as P.O. Box 30377, Lilongwe 3.

Community Health Science Unit, Mtunthama Road, Lilongwe, Malawi
Lilongwe

13°59′38″S 33°45′26″E