HIV/AIDS GOVERNANCE IN MALAWI
Both the public health and development communities are now keenly aware of the need to integrate policies to combat HIV/AIDS and poverty simultaneously. Malawi has one of the lowest life expectancies worldwide due primarily to HIV/AIDS, dropping to just 37 years in 1996 and climbing back up to 43 in 2000/1. One of the world’s poorest countries and one of the most devastatingly stricken by HIV/AIDS, Malawi has HIV prevalence rates of 25% and 11% in urban and rural areas respectively. We sought to examine the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) process’s impact on the resources for implementation of the Malawi National HIV/AIDS Strategic Framework (NSF) and accompanying policies, as well as HIV/AIDS program governance. We conducted a survey of Malawian government ministries, United Nations agencies, members of the County Coordination Mechanism, the Malawi National AIDS Commission (NAC), and NAC grantees. We found that the PRSP process supported accountability for the NSF resources, but the process may have marginalized key stakeholders, potentially undercutting the implementation of HIV/AIDS Action Plans.