UN, Law Commission promote HIV/AIDS Act
BY YOHANE SYMON:
People living with HIV/Aids have been urged to start using available pieces of legislation to promote and protect their rights whenever they feel like being marginalised.
Deputy Director of Family Nutrition and HIV/Aids in the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare, Charles Mazinga, made the remarks in Mangochi at the end of a two-day workshop which United Nations’ arm for gender equality, UN Women, in conjunction with the Law Commission organised to orient people living with HIV/Aids about the new HIV/Aids Management Act of 2017.
Mazinga encouraged Malawians to take special interest in appreciating the importance of various pieces of legislation that target sections of individuals in order for them to benefit from the available laws.
He said there have been cases of abuse towards people living with the virus, hence the need for the new to address such concerns.
“We need to start appreciating and benefiting from the available laws. This is why government facilitated the enactment of this law to empower people living with HIV/Aids to know where and how they can get relief whenever they have been victimised,” Mazinga said.
Law Commission’s Principal Civic Education Officer, Gills Msiska, said the Commission intends to reach out to all districts across the country to promote the new Act.
Msiska said the law is there for all Malawians and not just court users such as lawyers and police.
“There are a lot of people who are suffering despite having in place laws that protect them. So as part of our mandate, we would like to popularise the new Act so that it becomes effective. Through this, we believe rights of people living with HIV/Aids would be protected,” Msiska said.
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