A pastor in southern Malawi recently hit the headlines when he told five HIV-positive people in his church to stop taking antiretroviral (ARV) medication because they had been treated by prayer. Dodgy traditional healers touting their "cures" for AIDS are also proliferating. The government has drawn up legislation, currently before parliament, to muzzle anyone claiming they can cure AIDS.
"As government we cannot tolerate people who are deliberately spreading lies about a cure for AIDS, which is not there. All we want is to regulate information going out to the public, which is misleading at the moment and may result in problems on the part of innocent people," said Dr Mary Shawa, secretary for Nutrition, HIV/AIDS in the President's office. Joyce Chimenya, a faithful churchgoer at the Assemblies of God Church in Kanjedza township, one of Blantyre's middle-class suburbs, believes prayer can heal any ailment. "If you believe in God you can be healed of any disease, including HIV and AIDS. I have been part of a lot of healing sessions in my church and I believe that our Lord Jesus never fails," Chimenya told IRIN/PlusNews.
