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Malawi |
AIDS
Every evening, 30 «Warlords» meet in a room
in Blantyre’s Zingwangwa Township
to discuss the dangers of HIV/AIDS
«We are engaged in a war against the killer disease which is claiming an increasing number of lives everyday», says «Warlords» HIV/AIDS coordinator, Lloyd Moffat. The «Warlords» is just one of the many youth organisations which have sprouted in Malawi over the past few years in response to UNICEF (Malawi)’s financial support for HIV/AIDS-related programmes. It comes under UNICEF‘s five-year master plan of operations, running from 1997-2001.
Under this nationwide programme, the young people are engaged in various activities such as setting-up clubs for the prevention of AIDS, training in skills for earning one’s living, organising study tours, organising seminars and Workshops on AIDS and AIDS-related subjects.
Young people who are not in school are also involved in these activities. To-date, many youth clubs for those not in school have been established throughout the country. UNICEF is convinced that the existence of these clubs will go a long way towards educating young people in refraining from behaviour which could encourage the spread of the HIV virus which causes AIDS.
Youth organisations
Kennedy Warren is the youth liaison officer at the government-instituted National Youth Council of Malawi (NYCM). He says his organisation has registered over 60 youth organisations from all parts of the country. «We are still receiving more applications for registration which we are processing. Youth NGOs seek to advocate change in sexual behaviour among young people. That’s our aim», says Warren.
Recently, a regional meeting involving young people from Eastern and Southern Africa was held in Lilongwe. The meeting brought to light the fact that although tens of thousands of young people in the region have learnt a great deal about HIV/AIDS prevention, the knowledge acquired has not led to a noticeable change in behaviour among young people.
Warren says that poverty is forcing many young girls into promiscuous situations whereby they risk contracting the HIV virus, which is already inflicting at least 1,000,000 people in Malawi. He says: «The girls have to choose between abstaining from sex and hence starving, or having sex and getting food — only to die from AIDS later on.»
A mid-term review report on UNICEF‘s HIV/AIDS youth programme released in June 1999, indicates that in Malawi, the battle against the disease is still far from being won. The report states that the youth who constitute over 60% of Malawi’s population of 9.8 million, are contracting the virus at a higher rate than any other age group. «Without urgent and effective action, it is projected that 50% of young men and women currently employed in the education, health and military sectors, could be dead by 2010».
Obviously, such a development will bring with it a critical shortage of manpower in the affected sectors, since these are already understaffed due to inadequate training facilities and necessary funds to operate the few training institutions.
Currently, Malawi has six Teacher Training Colleges for future primary school teachers. Each college is able to accept about 140 students. The health sector has two government-run and eight mission-owned Schools of Nursing with an average enrolment of anything from 15 to 60 students in each institution. There are two schools for training medical assistants (a three-year course).There is one military college in Malawi and two police training schools. However, in both government and mission establishments, intakes are very irregular due to «financial constraints».
Studies and programme experiences from neighbouring Tanzania and Uganda, indicate that if young people were to know about their own sero-status through HIV-testing, it could help to motivate their behaviour. But a similar programme cannot be undertaken in Malawi because the country has only two Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centres (VCT)s located in Blantyre and Lilongwe. Health experts say that not many young people frequent these Centres, because their services are not considered to be «youth friendly». In fact, they cater for people of all ages.
However, Patrick Chakholoma, UNICEF‘s Programme Officer (Education and Youth section) does not agree with this assessment. He says the demand for VCT service among young people in Malawi has increased, and if the service were to be sufficiently well-advertised and offered in a confidential and affordable manner, the VCT Centres would be well attended.
The Banja La Mtsogolo
Thomson Nhlane is the Youth Project Coordinator at Banja La Mtsogolo (Future Family), an international organisation specialising in family planning issues. He says the organisation recently incorporated adolescence reproductive health services in its nationwide Family Planning Programme, as a way of providing friendly youth services. Nhlane says ten young people from each of the country’s 27 districts will be trained as Community-based Distribution Agencies (CBDA). The project will be using the existing 22 Banja La Mtsogolo and all government family planning clinics as springboards for mounting reproductive health services, specifically for adolescents living within local communities.
But in the long-term, any effort made to combat the scourge of AIDS among young people, depends on the commitment of the young people themselves.
 | Kennie Cliff Ntonga, Malawi, August 2000 — © Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgment |
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