LILONGWE, Malawi, 1 December 2008 With a prick in the heel of her tiny foot, six-week-old Daudi is the having a test to see if she, like her mother, is living with the HIV virus.
At Bwaila maternal and child health clinic in downtown Lilongwe, Malawis capital city, the nurse carefully collects small samples of blood on a piece of cardboard that will be dried and then sent to a nearby lab for testing.
Across Southern Africa, HIV has had a devastating toll on every aspect of life. In Malawi, for the estimated 30,000 children infected every year, almost half will die before they reach their second birthday.
After being counselled by nurses on the implications of the test, Daudi's mother promises to return in a month to collect her results. In the meantime, she is given an antibiotic to prevent any opportunistic infections.
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