Unima misses out on HIV and Aids project

Frequent closures of constituent colleges of the University of Malawi (Unima) have made students pay dearly as they have missed out as beneficiaries of an HIV and Aids project implemented by Students Christian Organisation of Malawi (Scom).

Scom monitoring and evaluation officer Innocent Kachikopa said this in an interview on Friday after presenting the project to Phalombe District Executive Committee.

Among other things, the project seeks to equip college students with comprehensive information on HIV and Aids, sexually transmitted infections and sexual reproductive health.

“We opted for Malawi University of Science and Technology [Must], Mzuzu University [Mzuni] and Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources [Luanar] because they are stable and follow their academic calendars,” said Kachikopa.

Commenting on the matter, Students’ Union of Chancellor College (Succ) president Raphael Nedi said it was unfortunate that his college will not benefit from the project.

“I urge Scom to reconsider their decision. As students from Unima, we are ready to put in place proper mechanisms to ensure that implementation of the project is not affected in any way,” he said.

The K27 million Scom project will also benefit 60 secondary schools in the country. It is funded by National Aids Commission (NAC). n