In January of this year I highlighted a news item about Malawi's
government paying its HIVer civil servants an extra $35 a month. See
Usenet article <109.1201049368.20080123@hiv-poz.co.uk> or
<http://www.hiv-poz.co.uk/articles/?article=109.1201049368.20080123@hiv-poz.co.uk>.

At the time I posed the question "Is it a good idea to reward people
for being HIV+?"

Looks like I've got my answer. The Malawi government has recently
suspended additional payments to HIVers, citing "gross abuse of the
facility."

<http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gvCh7KxqNrFLBKMSKH271rWxr61g>:

----- Begin Quote -----

Malawi has suspended extra monthly payments to its 38,000 civil
servants with the HIV virus, a government official said Saturday,
citing "gross abuse" of the programme in the AIDS-ravaged country.

"The suspension is due to gross abuse of the facility," Mary Shaba,
principal secretary for nutrition, HIV and AIDS in the president's
office, told AFP.

She said workers were claiming to be HIV positive in order to cash in
on the payments of 35 dollars (26 euros).

"Some people who are not HIV positive have been cheating to access the
facility," she said.

----- End Quote -----
--
<http://www.hiv-poz.co.uk/>
5,021 days and counting...

On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:31:52 +0100, Martin <martin@hiv-poz.co.uk>
wrote:

The Malawi government has decided to give its HIVer civil servants
foods, well cooking oil and eggs at least, instead of extra cash
payments.

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7667363.stm>:

----- Begin Quote -----

Malawian civil servants with HIV, who used to receive an extra $35 a
month to help them buy more food, are now to get a food handout
instead.

[...]

Dr Shawa, responsible for HIV and nutrition in the president's office,
said about 38,000 HIV mainly government employees will receive the
food instead of the extra money in their pay packet.

"The recommendation is to give them cooking oil, some eggs as
support," she said.

[...]

The UN estimates that 80% of people with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa do
not know they have the virus.

----- End Quote -----

That last sentence is quite interesting. In its 2007 report the UN
estimates that between 20,500,000 and 23,600,000 people in Sub-Saharan
African are HIV+. If 80% of those cases are not diagnosed, that
leaves between 4,100,000 and 4,720,000 diagnosed cases in the area.

This seems a rather extreme case of talking up the numbers.
--
<http://www.hiv-poz.co.uk/>
5,023 days and counting...