Report predicts 20 million AIDS orphans in Africa by 2010

By Fiona Fleck Geneva

The number of children left as orphans because their parents have died from AIDS related diseases in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to almost double--to 20 million--over the next seven years and could account for as many as 12% of all the region's children, says a recent Unicef report.

The report, Africa's Orphaned Generations, said that the new findings signal dire consequences ahead for a region already devastated by the pandemic. It said that many affected countries still have no national policy to tackle the growing needs of AIDS orphans, and this could have grave consequences for communities and society as a whole.

GIACOMO PIROZZI/UNICEF

John, aged 9, whose parents died of AIDS related TB, sits with his grandmother Alima Niymkuat her home in Tanzania

Many households have become poorer owing to the pandemic, and increasing numbers of families are headed by women and grandparents and are struggling to care for these children.

"The international community must not shy away from this problem and must substantially increase support to protect AIDS orphans from the pain and isolation--sometimes even abuse--that can result from the loss of one or both parents," said David Bull, executive director of Unicef in the United Kingdom.

The report predicted that the number of AIDS orphans would rise from an estimated 11 million in 2001 to 20 million in 2010 as a result of the high proportion of adults with HIV or AIDS and the failure to deliver antiretroviral treatment to sub-Saharan Africa.

Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe are expected to have the most AIDS orphans. The report said that a fifth of children in these countries were likely to be AIDS orphans in 2010.

The report is available at www.unicef.org/media/files/ orphans.pdf

studentBMJ 2004;12:1-44 February ISSN 0966-6494