Lighthouse is a registered public trust that exists to contribute to Malawi’s national response to HIV as a model providing a continuum of high-quality care while building capacity in the health sector. Lighthouse Trust, a World Health Organization (WHO) recognized Centre of Excellence, works in close coordination with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to operate four large integrated HIV testing, treatment and care clinics in Lilongwe, Blantyre and Zomba Malawi: one on the campus of Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH), another at Bwaila Hospital under the Lilongwe District Health Office, the third at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) and the fourth at Zomba Central Hospital. These patient-centered HIV clinics offer high-quality care through a strategic mix of proven approaches to address the specific requirements of people living with HIV (PLHIV).
Lighthouse also provides direct service delivery and technical support in HIV care through the District Support Program in Mzimba North and South, Rumphi, Nkhata-Bay, Likoma and Ntchisi by rapidly taking key national policies to scale.
Lighthouse seeks to contribute effectively to the UNAIDS and Malawi HIV National Strategic Plan adopted 95 – 95 – 95 targets which are that 95% of people living with HIV know their HIV status, 95% of people who know their HIV- positive status are initiated and retained on treatment and 95% of people on treatment have suppressed viral loads. The Lighthouse contributes to this through its comprehensive integrated HIV prevention, Treatment, Care and Support following four technical approaches:
- Goal 1: Service delivery: to enhance high-quality, integrated HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services for adults and children
- Goal 2: Model interventions and operations research: to develop, pilot, evaluate, and disseminate innovative programs and policies across the continuum of prevention, treatment, care and support for HIV infection and its co-morbidities, both infectious and non-infectious.
- Goal 3: Quality management: to ensure that all patients at LH clinics and all supported sites are receiving quality health care and services as recommended the MOH and other health development partners by utilizing quality improvement (QI) methodologies in a multidisciplinary team approach.
- Goal 4: Capacity strengthening: to build and strengthen healthcare capacity for high quality HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services
Lighthouse Trust contributes to and aligns efforts with Government of Malawi’s implementation of goals, objectives, strategies, and action points of the National Action Framework on HIV and AIDS that focus on reducing new HIV infections, improving the quality of treatment and care, mitigating the impacts of HIV and AIDS on individuals and households, and supporting systems needed to achieve these goals. To do this, Lighthouse collaborates with various local and international partners, such as The Malawi Government through MOH and National AIDS Commission, United States Government through Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Catholic AID for Overseas development (CAFOD), The Rose Project, International Epidemiologic Databases to Evaluate AIDS - Southern Africa (IeDEA - SA), University of North Carolina, University of Heidelberg, University of Cologne, WHO, Centre for International Migration and Development (run by GIZ), International Training and Education Center for Health, Global Health Corps, and Friends of Lighthouse - Malawi (Germany Chapter).