News: Malawi - Legislation against HIV/AIDS
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In Blantyre lawmakers began examining draft legislation the 4th of March, aimed to rid HIV/AIDS-plagued Malawi of quacks claiming to cure the virus through such remedies as sex with virgins, health authorities said - The Push Journal 05/03/08.
- When it passes into law, all traditional healers claiming to cure AIDS will be dealt with, Mary Shaba, head of HIV/AIDS issues for Malawis health ministry, told a parliamentary committee asked to provide input to the measure before it is submitted to the full 193-member parliament later this year.
- The Act will regulate and protect people from healers who prescribe sex with albinos, the disabled or virgins as a cure for HIV and AIDS, she said of the bill drafted in collaboration with traditional Malawi healers and the World Health Organisation.
Shaba did not specify possible sanctions against bogus healing claims for a virus that has devastated this southern African country, infecting more than one in 10 people.
But under the draft legislation, the poor countrys 30.000 traditional healers - many of whom operate in towns and villages where hospitals are few and far between - would be required to register with a board set up by the health ministry.
Besides direct solicitation by healers, newspaper and radio advertisements for AIDS cures are also common in Malawi.
Last year, a United Nations-funded study found that about 60 percent of people aged between 15 and 49 lacked knowledge about HIV prevention.
About 14 percent of Malawis population of 12 million is infected with HIV, which causes AIDS, according to official figures and there are about 78.000 AIDS-related deaths and 100.000 new infections every year.
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