- 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.
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- The National Statistical Office (NSO) says in its report
that 139 Malawians die of Aids-related diseases every day.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- This article was originally published on page 1 of The
Cape Times on September 22, 2003
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- http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=68&art_id=vn20030922024327658C329836&set_id=1
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