PRESIDENT GETS PERSONAL ABOUT AIDS AT LAUNCH OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L LILONGWE 000148

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2014
TAGS: KHIV TBIO EAID SOCI MI HIV AIDS
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT GETS PERSONAL ABOUT AIDS AT LAUNCH OF
NATIONAL POLICY


Classified By: Pol/Econ Officer Peter W. Lord, reasons 1.5 (b/d).


1. (SBU) At the February 10 launch of the National AIDS
Policy, President Muluzi made the surprise announcement that
one of his brothers had died three years ago as a result of
AIDS. In the address attended by UNAIDS Executive Director
Dr. Peter Piot, Muluzi also declared he knows his HIV status
is negative because he has gone for voluntary testing. While
acknowledging that the prevalence rate has stabilized between
14 and 15 percent, Muluzi encouraged Malawians to go for
voluntary counseling and testing (VCT). With only 3 percent
of the population having visited a testing center, Muluzi
advocated VCT as the way to go "if the fight against the
epidemic is to be successful."


2. (U) Supported by USAID-funded POLICY project, the National
AIDS Policy that was launched by Muluzi in Blantyre on
February 10 aims to provide comprehensive guidance on
prevention, treatment, care, support, and the multi-sectoral
response to the spread of HIV/AIDS. The policy has a
particular focus on human rights and empowerment as the
primary means for fighting the pandemic at the village level.
As a result, protection against marital rape and provisions
for gender equity in the family, equal access to treatment
and information, protection of prisoners against violence and
abuse, and equal treatment of the disabled are all included.
The policy also contains several controversial provisions,
such as allowing children age 13 and older to seek VCT
without parental consent, authorizing health-providers to
disclose the status of an infected individual to a spouse,
and approving the provision of condoms in prisons. The
Cabinet officially adopted the policy in November 2003.

COMMENT
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3. (C) While the President's announcement about AIDS in his
family was laudable, it has been too long in coming. In a
country so clearly affected by HIV/AIDS, Muluzi has had (and
missed) many opportunities to deal with the pandemic in a
personal and practical way. The GOM has had countless
high-level officials and parliamentarians whose deaths have
gone unremarked, even as the daily business of government has
been compromised by AIDS-related absences and deaths. While
Muluzi has routinely included HIV/AIDS messages in almost all
of his speeches for several years, this marks the first
occasion that he has personalized the issue.


4. (C) COMMENT CONTINUED: The need for Muluzi (and other
senior officials) to move directly and personally to address
HIV/AIDS was made all too apparent at the February 10 launch.
When Muluzi announced he had voluntarily been tested for
HIV, both the Ministers of Health and Commerce (who were
seated behind the Ambassador) audibly giggled. END COMMENT.
BROWNING