HIV/AIDS could halve professional workforce

Up to half Malawi's professional workforce could die of AIDS-related illnesses by 2005, a new World Bank study has found. The release of the study was timed to coincide with the opening on Sunday of the 13th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA), being held in Nairobi, Kenya. "Professionals in the country's education and health sectors are particularly affected, as are members of the army and the police," the World Bank said. Malawi's National Statistical Office (NSO) estimates that 139 people per day die of AIDS-related illnesses, mostly in the economically productive 15 to 49 age group. Malawi has an estimated population of 11 million people.