The government of Malawi has turned down a loan of $40 million from the World Bank intended to make up for a shortfall in funds that Malawi needs to combat Aids.

Deputy Health Minister Philip Bwanali told the BBC it would be immoral to accept the loan because Malawi is already heavily indebted and could not repay it.

He said his country takes the fight against Aids seriously, and it would be better if the World Bank offered a grant instead of a loan.

Malawi is among the countries hardest hit by the epidemic, with at least 14% of Malawi's population infected with HIV, the virus that can lead to Aids.

Debt issue

Mr Bwanali added that Malawi had joined other developing countries in pressing for debt cancellation so the money saved could be used for anti Aids programs.

Malawi owes more than $2bn to external creditors.

The World Bank offered the loan to Malawi at the recent health and finance ministers' Aids summit in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

The deputy minister said it would welcome the money quickly so it could implement strategies for slowing down new HIV infections which are occurring everyday.

In a related development, Malawi is one of 13 countries to benefit from a $3.8bn United States Agency for International Development (USAID) initiative to fight HIV/Aids.

The money is for countries which have been hardest hit by the Aids epidemic.

Other African beneficiaries are Uganda, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Zambia, Senegal, Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya.

Last month, Malawi's President Bakili Muluzi directed the country's police to arrest prostitutes found loitering on street corners and their clients in an effort to slow down the spread of HIV and Aids.

He said the health system could not cope with the Aids crisis and Malawians should the scourge by discouraging the kind of behaviour that helps the spread of the disease.