Chris Makaniki, pseudo name went for a voluntary counseling in the year 2005 and was found with AIDS virus, as time pass by he did a CD4 count testing and was recommended to start taking life prolong drugs, ARV’s.

Despite doctors explanation on how he can live longer especially with a combination of nutritious foods and AIDS drugs he has opt for careless by continue having sexual intercourse with people without any protection.

This behavior is a concern not only to government and Health experts as Principle Secretary for Nutrition, HIV and AIDS, Dr. Mary Shawa says the nation can be wipe in a short period of time and systematically if not careful and that it is very critical that we should consider how to protect others as we want to protect ourselves.

Perhaps this justifies the question that what will it take for people to change their attitude towards deliberate infection through unprotected sex?

Dr. Shawa is of the view that ‘the issue here, we should not talk about laws first but rather responsibilities’.

“If I want to be protected, I must protect others, the laws should just be there to strengthen what we are already believed in,” explained Dr. Shawa to this reporter.

Being responsible means, knowing your status, protect yourself and those you love. December 2007, World Aids Day was commemorated in Malawi under a theme; LEADERSHIP STOP AIDS: we can all be leaders in our own way to help increase awareness about HIV/AIDS.

This simply means that responsibility has a strong link along side stigma and treatment in controlling AIDS virus.

Majorie Ngaunje, former Member of Parliament observed that it could be any other disease that goes with a personal responsibility.

She, however, said for people like Chris Makaniki, there is no reason why he can not take precautions with all messages that are disseminated across the country.

“Those that are deliberately infecting others, the law indeed should take its course because that is irresponsible and that goes with individual,” said Ngaunje.

The Zimbabwe policy document on HIV and AIDS of 1999:25 notes that laying the burden of responsibility solely on those who know they have HIV infection would deter some people from finding out their HIV status so that they could avoid prosecution or conviction for this offence.

Malawi Network for People Living with HIV and AIDS (MANET Plus) Acting Executive Director, Safari Mbewe says that there is need for such laws, however, must clearly define the term ‘willful spread of HIV.’

“This should be spelt out categorically to prevent misunderstanding and misinterpretation. Additionally, cases, must be treated with ample caution depending on the context of their occurrences,” said Mbewe.

Many ethical dilemmas arise around willful transmission of HIV. Essentially, it adds weight to the need to encourage openness about HIV infection, to assist couples to find out their status together whenever possible, and aggressively to campaign for sex educational, condom use and safe sex relationships.

In the event of rape, the risks of HIV transmission are higher than in consensual sex because of the increased likelihood of damage to the lining of the vagina or the anus in the case of forced sodomy.

Some countries, including Zimbabwe, which is ahead of Malawi on issues of HIV, allow compulsory of AIDS virus of a convicted rapist in order to assess risk to the rape survivor.

If the rapist is HIV positive, a harsher sentence may be awarded on the grounds of increased risk to survivor. This is independent of whether the rapist knew he had HIV or whether HIV was actually transmitted.

Another approach is to test the survivor for HIV at the time and after an interval to see if the rape did transmit HIV. In some cases, survivors may be entitled to post-exposure prophylaxis.

This, however, is dependent on treatment starting with a maximum of 72 hours post rape, preferably sooner. At this stage antibodies to HIV will not have developed so an HIV antibody test on the survivor would not be useful. A much more costly test, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that detects the actual virus, is needed.

Policy on rape and HIV transmission remains problematic as most rapes are not reported anyway, and if they are reported the time lapse would make post-exposure prophylaxis too late.

The majority of rapists are not caught, either, so they cannot be tested for HIV. To be of assistance in deciding post-exposure prophylaxis to survivor, those accused of rape would have to have an HIV test immediately and not weeks or months later after a conviction.

This would mean that the accused of rape would face compulsory HIV testing, an infringement of their human rights.

Minister of Gender, Reen Kachere, Minister of Gender, is of the view that protection of girls and women is needed in as far as HIV and AIDS is concern, hence culprits should be prosecuted.

Kachere said this could be taken as deterrence that once involved, one would be charged and on the other hand the rate of infection would be reduced because people will be aware of the charges.

“This can also assist in reducing cases of rape which are on the increase amongst women and adolescent girls. People are raped in the name of cleansing their HIV,” said Kachere.

There is a cultural belief towards cleansing that once you sleep with adolescent girls, the albino or old women, one would be relieved. Initiation rites held at puberty in some countries such as dipo among kroba culture in Ghana and chinamwali or ndagala in Malawi may involve sexual intercourse, and at other major transitions, such as the death of husband, sexual rites may be performed.

In Swaziland, for a man to have multiple female partners is a sign of prestige that reaches its peak in the king, whom traditionally has numerous wives selected at special ceremonies where young women display their attractiveness.

High-risk customs and traditions need to change and supportive elements of culture such as male circumcision to be strengthened towards AIDS which is a manageable disease.

University of Malawi, Constitutional Law Lecturer, Dr. Edge Kanyongolo said willful infection of a disease such as AIDS virus and deliberate is morally a kin to murder and it is an offence but the problem in enacting such law would be proof.

Dr. Kanyongolo said it will be a very complicated offence to prove because one needs to give evidence that before two engage in sexual intercourse, one was HIV positive.

This is a challenge to Malawi considering that majority of the population have not tasted as such they do not know their status. “The law will require rules of evidence that are used always in court of law. I will agree in principle but in practice it will be a very difficult law to implement,” said Dr. Kanyongolo.

A publication titled, AIDS Africa by Helen Jackson, says proving of such offence will include that the person knew they had HIV infection and how it is transmitted, they did not tell the other person, they did not use a condom and finally the other person was not previously infected.

The introduction of the law could help the country to achieve the goals of HIV and AIDS National policy.

Out of the interaction with experts ranging from lawyer, politicians, government official and non-state actors which have been quoted in this story, it is not judgmental that Malawi requires special laws to prosecute willful spread of the AIDS virus.

The unfortunate part of it is that there should be wider consultation to fine tune on how one would proof the case. However, it is the behavior that needs to be sanctioned, whether unprotected sex or sharing unsterile needles, not individuals with HIV.

UNAIDS and International Parliamentary Union assert in the year 1999 proposed that when someone deliberately puts others at risk of HIV, they first receive a written warning from the health authorities. Only if they continue to put others at risk should the authorities consider the possibility of detention for a limited time.

It is ethically alright for people to be suicidal; it is their choice and their life. However, when those choices affect other people’s lives then it is not okay but what must be done for people like Chris Makaniki to change their mindset is the collective effort of individuals and organizations towards the fight against the epidemic.

Malawi has already drafted HIV laws which will be debated in parliament enacting it into Act.