Panafrican News Agency - December 5, 2001
The report says that up to 50 percent of admissions in medical wards and 85 percent of admissions in TB wards are HIV positive patients at the country's two main referral hospitals in Lilongwe and Blantyre.
It adds that of the 1,000 patients admitted at Blantyre's Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, 600 are HIV-positive, while 1,000 occupying beds at the Lilongwe Central Hospital, 500 are HIV- positive.
The annual cost of treating people living with HIV/AIDS is costing the ministry two million US dollars annually, says the bank.
According to the National Statistics Office, among the country's 12 million people, 850,000 are living with HIV/AIDS, and that 20 percent of 15-20-year-old pregnant women in the city of Blantyre are HIV positive.
It also says that the HIV/AIDS pandemic has lowered life expectancy in Malawi from 52 to 42 years.
"HIV/AIDS is threatening Malawi's future development in that it is having a devastating impact on families, communities, health services and businesses," Christina Mwale of the Malawi Congress of Trade Union said during this year's commemoration of the World AIDS Day.
She said that productivity has drastically fallen and at the same time business costs have risen. All these are the result of absenteeism, the loss of experienced employees and the need to train new workers, Mwale noted.
She said that at least 10 percent of the country's urban workforce are likely to die from AIDS in the next 10 years.
"There are already many unfilled positions in health, education and other skilled professions and occupations," Mwale said.
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