SOUTH AFRICA 'LOSING AIDS BATTLE' !
By Imogen Foulkes BBC News, Geneva
South Africa has an estimated 1.5 million Aids orphans. South Africa is in danger of losing the battle against HIV/Aids, the United Nations children's agency has warned. Unicef's South Africa representative Macharia Kamau said that infection and death rates in the country are outpacing treatment.
This was having a devastating effect on children whose parents die of Aids and sent out a dire message for the future.
Mr Kamau said if present trends continued there could be five million orphans in South Africa by 2015.
South Africa is one of just nine countries worldwide where infant mortality is rising - from 60 deaths per 1,000 births in 1990, to 95 deaths today.
The main reason, Unicef says, is HIV/Aids.
The average infection rate is almost 30% of the population - in some regions it is closer to 50%.
Speaking in Geneva, Mr Kamau, Unicef's representative in South Africa, said the effect on children was devastating - infants whose mother's die of Aids are at huge risk of dying themselves.
And older children who have lost one or more parents face a struggle to survive and to go to school.
In South Africa today there are 1.5 million Aids orphans - if the trend of 400,000 deaths from Aids per year continues, by 2015, the number of orphans will have reached five million.
Mr Kamau said that the numbers of people in South Africa being treated for Aids were constantly being outstripped by the numbers becoming infected and dying.
He described this as a dire message for the future because although 380,000 South African Aids patients are receiving anti-retroviral drugs - that is the largest cohort in the world - 1.2 million are not receiving treatment.
As long infection and death rates continued to outpace treatment, South Africa would lose the battle against Aids, he said.
Unicef says an aggressive expansion of treatment is needed immediately - so too is a much more open Aids prevention campaign from the government, to challenge the stigma which still surrounds the disease in South Africa.
BBC NEWS REPORT.South Africa has an estimated 1.5 million Aids orphans. South Africa is in danger of losing the battle against HIV/Aids, the United Nations children's agency has warned. Unicef's South Africa representative Macharia Kamau said that infection and death rates in the country are outpacing treatment.
This was having a devastating effect on children whose parents die of Aids and sent out a dire message for the future.
Mr Kamau said if present trends continued there could be five million orphans in South Africa by 2015.
South Africa is one of just nine countries worldwide where infant mortality is rising - from 60 deaths per 1,000 births in 1990, to 95 deaths today.
The main reason, Unicef says, is HIV/Aids.
The average infection rate is almost 30% of the population - in some regions it is closer to 50%.
Speaking in Geneva, Mr Kamau, Unicef's representative in South Africa, said the effect on children was devastating - infants whose mother's die of Aids are at huge risk of dying themselves.
And older children who have lost one or more parents face a struggle to survive and to go to school.
In South Africa today there are 1.5 million Aids orphans - if the trend of 400,000 deaths from Aids per year continues, by 2015, the number of orphans will have reached five million.
Mr Kamau said that the numbers of people in South Africa being treated for Aids were constantly being outstripped by the numbers becoming infected and dying.
He described this as a dire message for the future because although 380,000 South African Aids patients are receiving anti-retroviral drugs - that is the largest cohort in the world - 1.2 million are not receiving treatment.
As long infection and death rates continued to outpace treatment, South Africa would lose the battle against Aids, he said.
Unicef says an aggressive expansion of treatment is needed immediately - so too is a much more open Aids prevention campaign from the government, to challenge the stigma which still surrounds the disease in South Africa.
Labels: South-Africa Aids Children Stigma Unicef Orphans United-Nations
posted by jackaranda at 3:54 pm
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Have you heard about the National Day of Care? It's a day for all Americans to give to a ministry or humanitarian organization of their choice that supports orphans in Africa. Donations made to the National Day of Care, a nonprofit, are dispersed to organizations such as World Vision and Samaritan's Purse. This is a national movement held the Sunday before Valentine's Day, Feb. 10. Churches, businesses and all individuals can participate. Their website is www.nationaldayofcare.org. Help us spread the word!
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