What is the current situation of OVCs in Malawi?
The situation of children of Malawi, particularly those orphaned remains very serious, this is due to a combination of chronic poverty, bad weather conditions, bad harvest, and a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Among the most devastating effects of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa and in particular Malawi, is that it is orphaning generations of children. HIV and AIDS are generating a major humanitarian crisis for families in Sub-Saharan Africa. The number of children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS is expected to rise to 2M by 2010. Malawi has an extremely high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, which affects an estimated 16.4 per cent of people aged 15 to 49 and accounts for some 70 per cent of hospital deaths.
