Malawi starts distributing ARVs to those in need

Malawi has begun the distribution of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs to about 100 000 adults and 20 000 children living with HIV. Figures from the National Aids Commission show two million out Malawi's 12 million population are HIV positive.

President Bingu wa Mutharika's secretary for Nutrition and HIV/Aids, Mary Shawa, says that almost 90 000 children across Malawi have HIV. She says most of the children contracted the virus through mother to child transmission.

Shawa says the government has now established 144 delivery and service centres, up from 36 in 2004, to deal with mother to child transmission. Currently 100 000 HIV positive people in Malawi are already on AZT, paid for by the Global Fund initiative against Aids, malaria and TB.

An estimated 14% of Malawi's 12 million people are infected with HIV/Aids, with about 240 people dying of the disease each day. More than one million children have been orphaned by the epidemic.