By Chifundo Masanche
National Aids Commission (NAC) has refuted reports making rounds on social media platforms that it has released research findings claiming that 35% of students in public universities are living with HIV.
According to a press statement, signed by National Aids Commission spokesperson Karen Iron Msiska, the commission has not recently conducted any research on HIV and AIDs.
“The commission therefore would like to inform the public that the only recent information on HIV and AIDs indicates an estimate that 28% of all new HIV infections (including children)and 33 % of new adult HIV infections are among adolescents girls and young women aged 15-24. These statistics are from the HIV Epidemiological Estimates for Malawi covering from the period of December 2020,” the statement reads.
Over the past weeks social media platforms have been awash with reports that almost 35% of the public university students are living with HIV and AIDs.
However the Commission has appealed to the general public that spreading false, misleading or inaccurate information on HIV and AIDS is a criminal offence punishable by law. Which states that anyone found guilty of the offence will be fined 5 million and imprisoned for five years for an individual and 10 million for an institution.
