MASYAP’s 31 women’s support groups meet regularly and consist of members that are infected, affected and not affected women. Routine weekly support group visits are conducted in all support groups relating to issues surrounding HIV/AIDS.

Routine visits

MASYAP conducts outreach visits to all women’s support groups covering various topics; for example:

  • HIV basics- these outreach programmes serve to give the women an overview of HIV; modes of transmission, preventive measures and how to take care of yourself when living with HIV. These outreach programmes are conducted regularly to maintain a good base level of knowledge in the support groups.
  • Home Based Care-Home-based care workshops are run to civic educate support group members on how to take care of themselves and infected relatives within their homes; they are instructed on how to correctly take or administer Anti-RetroViral drugs (ARVs) and equipped with basic medical kits (gloves) to assist with home care.

  • PMTCT (Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission)-PMTCT is crucial to stemming the spread of HIV/AIDS; helping save children from being born with the burden of the disease. Many children born with HIV/AIDS become orphans and do not survive beyond childhood. PMTCT workshops provide members with information on the risks of HIV transmission in pregnancy and how to minimize the risks of passing HIV to the child.
  • Nutrition-these workshops advise women to maintain a healthy balanced diet within their budget in order to keep themselves and their families healthy and increase the ARV effectiveness.
  • Stigma and Discrimination- There is still a huge stigma concerning those living with HIV. These workshops focus mainly on reducing the misinformation surrounding HIV/AIDS and those infected with it in order to reduce the taboo around the subject.

Nutritional Support

MASYAP provides food parcels to the most vulnerable members when funds permit. These parcels help those on ARVs maintain a nutritious diet which helps to sustain their immune system and thus optimise the effectiveness of the ARVs. This program is currently sponsored by…….. We also run an orphan support programme to provide basic food needs and pay the school fees for orphan deemed highly vulnerable by their communities.

MASYAPNUTRITION

Condolence Packages

Where possible MASYAP provides a condolence package of MK15,000 equivalent to around $20 to the families of MASYAP members who passed away.