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Malawi is increasingly finding itself outpaced by HIV/AIDS, despite last year's launch of a US $196 million plan to distribute free anti-AIDS drugs over five years.
According to the Health Minister, Heatherwick Ntaba, AIDS claims 10 lives every hour, but the government is unable to spend the money required for developing proper strategies, while simultaneously losing medical personnel to AIDS-related illnesses or better-paying jobs overseas.
Reuters quoted Ntaba as saying: "This is a disaster, because it means that the country is losing 240 people every day to HIV/AIDS and at the end of 10 years an estimated 876,000 will die if the trend continues."
With an estimated 1 million of the country's 11 million population infected with HIV, it can only afford to spend $12 per capita on health annually, far below the $36 per capita recommended by Health Ministry officials.
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