United Nations Development Programme (New York) - February 24, 2004

A national policy President Bakili Muluzi launched earlier this month in Blantyre would require legislative changes to promote prevention and better protect those living with HIV/AIDS, including invalidating infection as grounds for job dismissal and offering tax incentives for employers who provide comprehensive HIV/AIDS programmes.

President Muluzi urged Malawians to go for voluntary HIV testing and counselling as he had, noting that so far only 3 per cent have done so.

He also called for openness, including disclosing AIDS as a cause of death, to reduce the social stigma.

"Let us come out in the open. My young brother Dickson, who died two years ago, died of HIV/AIDS," he said. "We can only tackle the problem if we are open. It is a serious problem. Why hide it?" UNAIDS and UNDP provided technical and financial support for the National AIDS Commission for preparation of the policy.

UNAIDS Executive Director Dr. Peter Piot said that his organization is fully committed to ensuring that access to effective HIV treatment becomes a worldwide reality. UNAIDS, working with the World Health Organization (WHO), is campaigning to put at least three million HIV positive people in developing countries on anti-retroviral treatment by 2005.

Dr. Piot noted that HIV prevention is bearing fruit among young people, with HIV infection rates falling. "These efforts need to be redoubled to ensure that our children remain HIV-free," he said, urging everyone to "stick to ABC - abstinence, be faithful and use a condom." He commended President Muluzi for leading the response to the epidemic, making it the country's number one challenge.

The President pointed out the need to revise or repeal a number of laws to implement the policy and protect the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS. He has asked the Minister of Justice and the Law Commission to review to criminal, labour, public health, customary marriage and divorce, and taxation laws.

He noted, for example, that the policy calls for amending the Employment Act to include HIV status among the reasons that do not constitute valid grounds for dismissal.

Janet Kayuni, chairperson for the Youth Council and a law student at the University of Malawi, said that existing legislation to protect children and young people against abuse, harassment and exploitation needs to be strengthened and enforced to ensure that the policy is effective. Many girls, especially orphans, are sexually abused by their guardians and even teachers, she asserted.

Ms. Kayuni said that very few young people have access to sexual and reproductive health information, education and services appropriate for their age and needs. She added that young people have been denied the right to "full participation on matters affecting them," and urged that the new policy involve them fully.

In the past three years, the HIV infection rate among those 15 to 24 has stabilized at about 14 per cent. Only 2 per cent of children ages 5 to 14 are HIV positive, a prevalence Ms. Kayuni described as a "window of hope" for an HIV-free country in the future.

For further information please contact Janet Karim , UNDP Malawi, or Cassandra Waldon , UNDP Communications Office.

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