March 10, 2008

Malawi trying to curb faith leaders who mislead on AIDS

Malawi is preparing legislation to prevent traditional healers from claiming they can cure AIDS, and to stop religious leaders from telling their people not to take medication for HIV.

"We want to protect people from healers who claim that once you sleep with an albino or a virgin you will be cured of AIDS, and from members of the clergy who stop people from taking ARVs [anti-retroviral drugs]," said Mary Shaba, principal secretary in the office of the president who is responsible for nutrition and HIV/AIDS.

Some of Malawi's traditional healers have, however, threatened to march to the parliament of the central African country to try and stop the measure becoming law, fearing that it is intended to place curbs on their activities.

In a March 3 interview with Ecumenical News International, Shaba said this was not the case and that the law concerned information given to citizens about treatment of HIV.

"The bill [draft law] that we are working on is a Prevention and Management of HIV/AIDS Act that will regulate information going out to the public which is misleading and may result in inflicting harm on innocent people," Shaba told ENI.

The Malawi Council of Churches recently warned clergy against telling church members that only God can cure AIDS and that they should therefore stop taking medication for HIV. Five church members with HIV are reported to have died in Malawi's southern district of Thyolo after receiving such advice from their pastor.

"The MCC condemns in the strongest terms without reservation the behaviour and teachings of some church leaders who discourage people from going for and benefiting from voluntary counselling and HIV testing or from taking ARVs," the church council said in a February 13 statement.

Health officials say that about 10 people die every hour in Malawi due to AIDS-related causes. Official estimates put the number of Malawians who are HIV positive at around one million in a total population of 13.6 million.

"While the MCC membership supports prayers and believes in faith healing, it does not condone imposing one's faith or ideologies on others especially where life is at stake," says the church council statement.

An estimated 91,000 Malawian children under the age of 15 are infected with HIV, with many of these having contracted the virus from their mothers.