6.1: HIV & AIDS
Prevent further spread of HIV and AIDS and mitigate its impact on the socio-economic and psychosocial status of the general
population and high risk groups.
Other Information:
HIV and AIDS Prevention and Management -- HIV and AIDS is a socio-cultural, economic, political, development and health issue
which has brought havoc to all sectors of the economy in Malawi and other developing countries. This has created a big human
power shortage of ranging between 25-60 percent in developing countries. It is a social problem because of its negative consequences
on the communities and social structures. It is a cultural issue because some cultural practices and beliefs fuel the spread
of the disease and mask positive traits of the system while encouraging stigma, discrimination and denial. It is a political
problem because a sick person will not contribute to the political development of the country. It is a health issue because
it affects directly a large number of people and the health-care system itself or fabrics of society. HIV and AIDS is an economic
issue as it leads to reduction in economic growth by reducing the productivity of the labour force and drains investment resources
in all sectors. HIV and AIDS is a development issue because it affects negatively all sectors of the economy. Malawi like
many other Sub-Saharan African countries has been severely affected by HIV and AIDS. The first case was reported in 1985 and
to-date, despite so many yearsofnationalresponse,theimpactremainsdevastatingandthecountry'sefforts are inadequate given the
pace of the spread of HIV and AIDS. Poverty and HIV and AIDS are reciprocally influenced and Malawi happens to have more than
52.4 percent of its population living in poverty. The national adult HIV prevalence in the reproductive age group of 15-49
years has slightly declined from 14.4percent in 2003 to 14.0 percent in 2005. HIV and AIDS prevalence among antenatal clients
has also declined from 19.8 percent in 2003 to 16.9 percent in 2005. Approximately 930,000 people are living with HIV and
AIDS, including 70,000 children under the age of 15. According to the Malawi Demographic Health Survey (MDHS 2004), prevalence
of HIV and AIDS was estimated at 12.8 percent of the population and around 30-35 percent of all pregnant women aged between
15 and 49 years and 640,000 people have died of AIDS at a rate of 86,000-100,000 annually. HIV and AIDS is now the leading
cause of death in the most productive age group, resulting in 50,000 to 70,000 adult and child deaths annually. HIV and AIDS
mortality rate is close to 700 deaths per 100,000 people. OutofMalawi'sonemillionorphans,500,000havelostoneor both of their
parents to AIDS. A fifth of all households in Malawi take care of one or more orphans; 49 percent of these are female headed
Malawi'sresponsetoHIV andAIDSbeganin1986,initiallyconcentratingon preventing further transmission of the virus. Since then
Malawi has demonstrated increased commitment to addressing HIV and AIDS through the establishment of the National AIDS Commission
(NAC) in July 2001 to manage a multi-sectoral response to the pandemic. The country has made substantial investment to build
and maintain a positive partnership with donors, bilateral and multilateral organizations and various stakeholders. Recently,
Government has established the Malawi Partnership Forum on AIDS, where all stakeholders come under one umbrella for improved
coordination and harmonization of the national response. Over the past fifteen years the country has moved from a point of
denial to a situation where there is almost universal awareness of HIV and AIDS. In response to the burden of the epidemic
on the formal health care system, the Government has encouraged communities and households to take up the challenge of providing
home based care and support. At present, public organizations, community-based organizations (CBOs), Civil Society organizations,
public, and private sector institutions have all become engaged in various ways in the fight against HIV and AIDS. This has
led to a dramatic increase in the number of community groups providing home based care as well as increased number of trained
community home based care providers. In order to institutionalise work on nutrition, HIV and AIDS, the Department of Nutrition
and HIV and AIDS in the Office of the President and Cabinet was created to coordinate these activities. Nonetheless, Malawi
still faces a number of challenges in containing the spread and impact of HIV and AIDS on development. Key constraints in
containing the HIV and AIDS scourge are: hunger and poverty which make individuals more vulnerable to infection; inadequate
supply of Anti-retrovirals (ARVs) and access to nutritious diets; low levels of education; limited institutional capacity;
deep-rooted harmful sociocultural values and practices, beliefs and traditions and poor coordination amongst the service providers.
Indicator(s):
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