Coalition of Women Living with HIV and AIDS

COWLHA is a civil society organisation founded by women and girls living with HIV and currently has over 60,000 members. The organisation has actively worked to reduce cervical cancer incidence through demand creation and advocacy, ensuring the availability of necessary supplies and screening sites.

As part of the Malawi SRHR Alliance, COWLHA has collaborated with six organisations in implementing the Get Up Speak OUT (GUSO) project, which empowers young people to become self-reliant and strengthens their capacity to engage in decision-making platforms on sexual and reproductive health issues, including access to HPV vaccination.

COWLHA is an international alliance organisation committed to cervical cancer elimination and is a member of the African Cervical Health Alliance (ACHA). It has contributed to focus group discussions with women to gather their perspectives on cervical cancer self-testing, participated in the development and review of IEC materials, and engaged in scorecard training sessions organised by ACHA. Additionally, COWLHA has played a key role in demand creation for HPV vaccination and dispelling myths surrounding screening and vaccines.

As a member of Malawi’s national technical working group, COWLHA has been actively engaged in the Together for SRHR project, supported by UNAIDS. Through this initiative, the organisation has led community demand creation efforts, mobilised chiefs and community members to highlight the benefits of cervical cancer screening for both women living with HIV and those without.

COWLHA has also been a key partner of CHAI, working with women volunteers to drive community demand creation and organise outreach screening activities. Furthermore, the organisation is involved in advocacy for advanced HIV disease, particularly focusing on cervical cancer as an opportunistic condition among women living with HIV—a key population for COWLHA’s interventions.