HIV/AIDS in Malawi

HIV/AIDS in Malawi describes the epidemic and the national response in a country where, as of 2012, about 1,100,000 people were HIV-positive, some 10.8 percent of the population. The government under Hastings Banda (1966 to 1994) was slow to respond, and prevalence rose sharply between 1985, when the disease was first identified in Malawi, and 1993, when rates were estimated as high as 30 percent among pregnant women. The 2002 food crisis resulted at least in part from lost agricultural productivity linked to the epidemic. Under Bakili Muluzi and Bingu wa Mutharika prevalence gradually declined, antiretroviral therapy became available to many from 2003, and condoms and testing became more widely accessible. Awareness is high, women are more likely than men to be HIV-positive, and the epidemic has left many orphans vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.