President discloses brother's AIDS death

MALAWI: President discloses brother's AIDS death

JOHANNESBURG, 11 Feb 2004 (PLUSNEWS) - Malawi's President Bakili Muluzi on Tuesday publicly announced that his brother had died of an AIDS-related illness in 2001.

The president disclosed the information as he launched his country's first and long-awaited policy on tackling the pandemic.

He said his family had agreed to make known the cause of his brother's death in order to help "change attitudes, break the silence and initiate open talk about sex and AIDS".

Muluzi was quoted by the South African Press Association as saying: "My own brother, third-born in our family, died of AIDS three years ago. I have no apologies to making this publicly known to Malawians. We should be open and break the silence about HIV/AIDS."

[ENDS]

[Back] [Home Page]

Click here to send any feedback, comments or questions you have about IRIN's Website or if you prefer you can send an Email to Webmaster

The material contained on this Web site comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post any item on this site, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All graphics and Images on this site may not be re-produced without the express permission of the original owner. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2005