While the country has sound HIV and AIDS policies and has demonstrated a strong sense of leadership and understanding of the pandemic, the general public has little understanding of HIV/AIDS matters and this has resulted into the violation of rights of those that are infected.
The Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) one of the several Malawian civil society orgnisations that are implementing HIV/AIDS human rights programes has uncovered that while there is more knowledge of HIV/AIDS issues in the country, many people are still not respecting the dignity of persons living with HIV.
CHRR acting Program Manager Nicola Ndovi said there was still much that the country has to do to end the culture of silence that surrounds the pandemic and has resulted in the stigmatization of those infected.
"People Living with HIV are experiencing the pandemic first hand and they need to be involved in HIV/AIDS programs as CHRR we believe that empowering them with knowledge on their rights is the chore to the response, CHRR with support from Lois foundation is currently implementing a program in Lilongwe that seeks to empower women with knowledge of their rights in the wake of HIV/AIDS," she said.
She said this was a matter that needed more attention as currently activists have focused much on prevention and care interventions with little focus on human rights.
"It’s a concern that attitudes that stigmatise and discriminate against people living with HIV and AIDS continue to remain high in the country. For example we have a programme in Mchinji where we discovered that community members felt that people living with HIV should be discriminated because they are already dead,” she said.
She said through community debates that the CHRR has been orgnising a number of issues have immerged varying form district.
For instance at Shumbi village in Mchinji according to Ndovi, people openly said that people living with HIV should be discriminated against as they would bring a curse to the village since they are suffering due to their carelessness.
However, Ndovie said, continuous debate people's attitudes towards persons living with HIV have started to change and they have since started to understand the evils of HIV/AIDS based stigma and discrimination.
But while such has been the rights situation, Malawi is one country in the world that has managed to effectively respond to the pandemic within a very short period.
Principal secretary in the office of president and cabinet responsible for HIV,AIDS and nutrition, DR Mary Shawa, said currently the country has had 184 405 patients ever enunciated for Anti Retroviral Treatment(ART) and has made sure that those that are living with the virus access good nutrition.
She said the Malawi government has gone beyond the provision of food to PLHIV but rather focused much on nutrition.
She said a recent survey indicated that 25 percent of the Malawian population was malnourished adding that out of these 75 percent were PLHIV, but was quick to point out that the trend has now been reversed as the government is providing nutritional support to hard hit families.
"Malawi is actually one of the very few African countries that has managed to respond to HIV and AIDS within a very short period," she said.
Meanwhile according to Shawa her department alone has assisted over 50000 PLHIV with cheap fertiliser so that they can produce their own food.
She said there has also been a 20 percent to a 2 percent decline of mortality rates of malnourished.
However Shawa said issues to do with the civil rights of PLHIV remain a challenge to Malawi.
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