ABSTRACT
Blessings spent the last of his days on a mat outside his house, cared for by his family and with little in the way of medicine. Blessings was only one of many in that village. People in numerous households were severely ill, and it was whispered that many of these people were dying of AIDS. They were dying at home surrounded by their families, without any treatment. The problem of reaching HIV-positive patients in rural communities persists today. Malawian policymakers and healthcare providers are well aware of the limitations of hospital-based services and often express the need to expand HIV care by creating more outreach mechanisms. In the absence of formal medical care in most rural communities, other sources of support sprang up in the villages. The goal of universal access to care that was enshrined in the Malawian national treatment policy demanded a shift in focus to areas often neglected by health policies, namely remote rural communities.
