| Malawi is facing a severe HIV/AIDS Pandemic. With an estimated prevalence rate of 14.2%, it ranks eight in the world. About 900,000 Malawians were infected by 2003 and there were110,000 new infections and 87,000 deaths due to HIV/AIDS in 2003. The disease has poten tially devastating impacts. For example, 'taking children out of school' is mentioned as one of the coping mechanisms (Garbus 2003) but evidence is mixed. Doctor (2004) found no statistically significant difference between enrollment of orphans and non-orphans and mentioned an effective extended family structure as explanation. However, HIV/AIDS, poverty, macroeconomic policies, and food shortages are reported to render informal safety networks of the extended family systems irrelevant (Garbus... |
