Grace Kumwenda

Advocacy Accomplishments for the Year

During Grace’s Fellowship project year, she led the drafting of PrEP guidelines for Malawi’s Ministry of Health, ensuring the inclusion of PrEP for key populations in the 2018 treatment guidelines. Grace also identified the need for viral load testing as a key advocacy gap in Malawi where she worked on demand creation for its scale up. Her proven leadership as a Fellow facilitated her selection to be co-investigator for Malawi’s first PrEP demonstration study for sex workers. Grace’s work also paved the way for her organization Pakachere to become a selected member of the newly formed Global Coalition for HIV Prevention.

In Her Own Words

The project has changed my perception of advocacy totally. The fellowship year taught me the power of one’s voice, the power of coordinating with others to strengthen that voice and most importantly I learnt the importance of evidence, data and learning. I come out of the fellowship believing that I CAN influence change unthinkable, believing that I don’t need to be a medical doctor to be a bio-medical prevention advocate. I have learnt that advocacy is about talking to the right people in the right forums and that no voice is small!

Materials

• HIV Viral Load Testing in Malawi — What You Need to Know
• Poster: Advocating for Access to Viral Load Testing & PrEP in Malawi
• Advocating for Access to PrEP and Viral Load Testing In Malawi: Fellowship reflections

Where Are They Now?
Learn what Grace is up to today.