Chisomo Chaweza

As a KP ally, Chisomo strategically selected MANERELA+, a network of religious leaders, to host him through his Fellow project. This reflects Chisomo’s big-tent approach to advocacy, tapping into all the key sectors to push for accelerated PrEP rollout in key populations. Specifically, he rallied demand for the release of the long-overdue PrEP Guidelines—finally launched in September, 2021.

And when the MOH was not forthcoming with where to find PrEP dispensing sites, Chisomo rallied pressure on PEPFAR to reveal this information. He handled the media as an advocacy tool from both sides—engaging them to consistently and accurately cover HIV prevention and also developing his own blog, Liberty, and writing opinion pieces. He drafted a policy brief Making up for Lost Time: Increasing Access to PrEP and HIV Self-testing for Key Populations in Malawi, which continues to be employed as an advocacy tool today by others such as the incoming 2022 Fellow.

End of Project Summary Video

• Watch Chisomo’s end of project presentation

Media

• Policy Brief: Making up for Lost Time Increasing Access to PrEP and HIV Self-testing for KPs in Malawi
• Read Chisomo’s blog, Liberty
• MANARELA pushes gov’t to roll out PrEP as Malawi keeps registering new HIV infections, CapitalFM
• PrEParing the Way — The Nation
• Ever heard of PrEP? It’s not HIV vaccine but can save you — Random Thoughts Blog

Materials

• PrEP: Basic Information and Facts