US embassy cable - 04LILONGWE148

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, President 
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