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Abstract:
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In this document, the author states that HIV/AIDS in Malawi is overwhelming. With an HIV prevalence rate of 14 per cent in the economically productive age group of 15-49 years, Malawi is one of the countries most affected by HIV/AIDS in the world.
The first case of AIDS was diagnosed in 1985. In the mid-1980s 2 per cent of pregnant women attending antenatal clinics were HIV infected; in less than two decades an estimated 35 per cent of pregnant women were infected.
According to the National AIDS Control Programme the prevalence of HIV in the economically productive age group is estimated at 26 per cent in the urban areas and 12 per cent in the rural areas.
In the same age group, the prevalence of HIV is estimated at:
- 9 per cent in the northern region ,
- 11 per cent in the central region
- 18 per cent in the south.
According to Government of Malawi and World Bank, high rates of urbanisation and labor migration are the most important contributing factors to the high rates of HIV in the Southern Region.
The demise of economically productive young men and women robs children, the aged and other members of the extended family of the social security system that they all depend on. Personal insurance schemes, pensions and worker’s compensation only cater for a very small per centage of the population.
The extended family system is still the first choice of coping though it is under great strain due to HIV/AIDS. This applies to both caring for the chronically ill as well as taking care of orphans. In the absence of relatives, children assume the role of caregivers to their parents or indeed in the case of the death of both parents children care for themselves. Some of the strategies being used in Malawi to cope with the impacts of HIV/AIDS are:
- Early marriages,
- dropping out of school in order to head a family,
- casual labor and piece work,
- small scale sales
In addition to these informal social safety nets, community based organisations have also been established in different parts of Malawi with the aim of assisting those families affected by HIV/AIDS. |