Rense.com



AIDS May Kill Half Of Malawi's
Professionals By 2005

From Jan Lamprecht
AfricanCrisis.org The Cape Times
9-22-3


BLANTYRE -- Up to half of Malawi's professional workforce could die of Aids by 2005, the World Bank says in a report timed to coincide with the opening of a major conference in Kenya on the pandemic in Africa.
 
The National Statistical Office (NSO) says in its report that 139 Malawians die of Aids-related diseases every day.
 
The World Bank study says half of Malawi's professionals - especially those in education, health and the security services, including the army and the police - will die of Aids complications by 2005.
 
Health Minister Yusuf Mwawa says the situation is compounded by a brain drain of qualified clinicians, especially nurses, to more lucrative environments such as Britain.
 
139 Malawians die of Aids-related diseases every day The NSO report says HIV and Aids are particularly prevalent in the economically active population group, aged between 15 and 49 years.
 
It is estimated that more than a million Malawians are living with HIV and that about 250 more a day become infected. At least 70 percent of Malawi's hospital beds are occupied by Aids patients.
 
According to the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report, the syndrome has cut Malawi's life expectancy to 36, among the lowest in the world.
 
The ministry of education is among the hardest hit. A recent study found at least 70 000 deaths a year among teachers. It is estimated there are more than a million orphans among Malawi's 11 million people.
 
This article was originally published on page 1 of The Cape Times on September 22, 2003
 
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=68&art_id=vn20030922024327658C329836&set_id=1

 

Disclaimer





MainPage
http://www.rense.com


This Site Served by TheHostPros