[Press Kit]

11
Molowi: Striving for early
childhood care

have been very much dependent upon
government funding to undertake
community-based initiatives.
Finally, existing child protection
laws and policies are fragmented
and outdated.
Despite the challenges, there are
hopeful signs that political commitment has begun to accelerate
the Government's response to the
HIV/AIDS epidemic. This commitment, and the establishment of a
National Orphan Programme, are
critical first steps towards halting
the spread of AIDS and mitigating
its impact. U

It is estimated that around one in
seven of the population aged 15-49
years in Malawi is infected with HIV.
Over 25 per cent of women attending
antenatal clinics in the urban centres of
Blantyre and Lilongwe test positive for
HIV, and girls aged 15-24 are six times
more likely to be sero-positive than
boys the same age. The incidence of
tuberculosis has more than tripled
since the late 1980s, largely due to HIV.
The AIDS crisis has had a crippling
impact on the country's children.
By the end of 1997, 6 per cent of children under the age of 15 in Malawi
were orphans.

By the end of 1997,
6 per cent of children under
the age of 15 in Malawi
were orphans. A boy
orphaned by AIDS tends a
pot cooking on an open fire.