Latest News from Africa

1. News From Malawi

Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika

HIV/AIDS is stunting economic growth and social development in sub-Saharan Africa, Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika said Tuesday at the opening of a two-day parliamentary forum of the Southern African Development Community. SADC members need to "move fast in solidarity to find lasting solutions and to try and fight the HIV pandemic," Mutharika said.

According to Mutharika, HIV/AIDS has created "huge social and economic implications" in the region. He called for a multifaceted, comprehensive and holistic approach toward curbing the spread of HIV in the region, adding that national parliaments have a "crucial role" in providing political leadership to fight HIV/AIDS. Mutharika added that the community needs to "agree on a common SADC strategy to collaborate programs and projects dealing with this disease at all levels."

Malawian parliamentary speaker Louis Chimango added that Southern Africa is "at war against a pandemic that knows no boundary." HIV/AIDS has "contributed to the deepening levels of poverty in a region with one of the lowest levels of development indicators," Chimango said, adding, "Fighting HIV/AIDS is also fighting poverty itself."

According to a UNAIDS report published last year, 63% of all adults and children living with HIV/AIDS live in sub-Saharan Africa. The number of adults and children living with the virus in the region increased from 2.4 million in 2004 to 2.8 million in 2006, the report said. In addition, the report found that there were no signs of HIV/AIDS diminishing in the region and said that a lack of leadership was responsible for the situation (AFP/Yahoo! News, 10/23).

2. News From Uganda:

President of Uganda H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni,

The Uganda AIDS Commission plans to implement a five-year strategy aimed at reducing the spread of HIV in the country by more than 40%, the New Vision/AllAfrica.com reports. The strategy will focus on boosting the ABC approach to HIV prevention -- which stands for abstinence, be faithful and use condoms -- and on providing people living with HIV/AIDS with treatment access.

The plan aims to provide antiretroviral drugs to 80% of HIV-positive people in the country. Kihumulo Apuuli, chief of the commission, said the program will "increase access to treatment, care and support of the people living with HIV/AIDS in addition to offering prevention services to the entire population." The terms of the program were agreed upon at the United Nations General Assembly in June 2006, Apuuli said.

Apuuli also denied claims by some HIV/AIDS advocates that the program will undermine the ABC approach, saying the new program will "complement the ABC strategy" (New Vision/AllAfrica.com, 10/24).