1. Home
  2. Southern Africa
  3. Malawi

AIDS takes centre stage during elections

People living with HIV/AIDS are high on the agenda as Malawi goes to the polls on Thursday. According to a UK newspaper, The Guardian, political parties have swept away a decade of silence and embarrassment to compete for the votes of people affected by the disease. AIDS activists welcomed the politicians joining the fight against the pandemic that has infected 1 million of Malawi's 11 million population, and which kills 85,000 people in the country every year. The head of the relief agency, Care International in Malawi, Nick Osborne, said: "You only have to go around town to see the billboards about HIV/AIDS - there has been a lot of political support."

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

Share this article

Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join