Conservative Malawi grapples with sex education

The Malawi Censorship Board has ordered the removal of a controversial condom advertisement that it has declared offensive and pornographic. The advertisement, for the Chishango brand, features a couple smiling shyly at each other in a market. But the photograph of the condom's packaging at the bottom right of the billboard has caused an outcry. It is an image of a scantily-clad woman's torso, one hand on her revealed thigh, the other suggestively hovering below her navel. Hotly debated in the country's press, and condemned by religious groups, civic bodies and women's organisations, the main objections are that it goes against Malawian values, and will tempt the youth to have sex. The manufacturers of the condoms, Population Services International, have also put the advertisement on taxis, and at the Mwanza border post welcoming visitors to "Chishango Country". A joint statement to the local media by 20 ministers of religion said: "While sex education is imperative in the wake of [the] HIV/AIDS pandemic, this does not warrant wanton display of naked figures." Sheikh Dinala Chabulika from the Muslim Association of Malawi said: "The new face of Chishango is offensive, pornographic and degrading. It reduces women to nothing but sex objects." The Nation newspaper quoted church leaders as saying: "Enticing the population towards sex to promote the sale of Chishango is like happily dousing us with petrol for the sake of promoting fire extinguishers." One youth organisation invoked Article 17 of the UN Convention on child rights, which it says emphasises the role of the media in disseminating information to children which respects their well-being and cultural background. The row erupted in the same week that the Malawi National Human Development report said about half of children and adolescents are sexually active before the age of 15. In the 15 to 19 age group, about six times as many young women have AIDS as young men, it said. "This is partially explained by the active searching out of schoolgirls and younger women by older men putatively because they believe, despite the statistics, that they are less likely to be infected," the report added. The infection rate is four to six times higher for women than men in the 15 to 24 age group. The numbers continue to grow, even though 90 percent of the population is aware of HIV/AIDS. The report said the pandemic is poised to undo all the socio-economic gains made over the past years. With most infected people being in the 15 to 49 age group, it is striking people in their prime years. Chronic poverty, which is rampant in Malawi, contributes significantly to its spread and impact. "Pre-existing health conditions in Malawi, including chronic malnutrition, endemic bilharzia and vitamin A and iodine deficiency are increasing the vulnerability of people to HIV infections," said the report. Opportunistic diseases have also become more common because of high HIV infection levels and the number of tuberculosis cases has grown from 5,000 in 1985 to over 23,000 at present. Most of these increases are due to HIV. Life expectancy has dropped to 40 years due to the upsurge of diseases such as TB and HIV/AIDS. Cultural beliefs, which subordinate women and girls, aid the spread of HIV/AIDS. In marriage, women are often powerless to protect themselves even where the risk of infection is obvious. According to the report, some communities in Malawi still observe certain cultural practices that promote high-risk behaviour. The most common are initiation ceremonies, widow inheritance and death cleansing. Dire predictions include setbacks in the agricultural sector which will lead to food shortages and the draining of household resources for medicines. The education sector is also reporting disruption through the death and absenteeism of teachers either through illness or because they have to go home to care for sick relatives. The report concludes: "While the majority of Malawians are still HIV-negative, they are still very vulnerable to HIV infection. The challenge of HIV/AIDS prevention efforts, therefore, should be to keep all these people HIV negative."