Of the 21 million deaths from AIDS to date, three quarters were people living in sub-Saharan Africa. AIDS in Africa is fuelled by poverty, and it is causing a humanitarian and economic crisis in which children orphaned by the disease are growing up without parents, schooling or adequate food. What should African governments and the international community be doing to tackle this growing catastrophe?

Researchers with Christian Aid have assessed the scale of the problem and the needs of these orphaned children, their carers and local communities affected by AIDS. Community groups and their partner organisations are helping some of the children by providing food and support and paying for their education, but they are increasingly overwhelmed by the scale of the problem and the sheer number of youngsters who need their assistance. The possibility of a vaccine being developed and the issue of generic drugs being made available at cost price are not viewed as the whole solution in a situation where the average governmental expenditure on health is as low as US$3 per person.

In this report, Christian Aid calls on governments of developed countries to honour the pledge they made in 1970 to increase their overseas aid budgets to 0.7 percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The IMF and World Bank are now calling for similar aid increases. Christian Aid outlines an approach based on the needs defined by the affected communities themselves, rather than by the policy priorities of remote western governments.

Research findings include:

• Africa has 33 of the worlds 48 poorest countries, nine out of ten new cases of HIV infection and 80 percent of AIDS deaths.
• An estimated 12.1 million children have been orphaned by AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Traditional extended family networks for caring for orphans are breaking down, with some children orphaned two or more times as aunts and uncles die as well. Grandparents with no income struggle to look after young orphaned children.
• Half of all adults in Africa are illiterate, and rates of illiteracy are highest in rural areas where HIV prevalence is also high. Children orphaned by AIDS cannot afford school fees, and so receive no education.
• The economic impact of AIDS on African economies in the future will be enormous, as a significant proportion of the productive workforce falls ill and a generation is growing up without the skills their countries need for economic development.

The report makes the following policy recommendations:

• An immediate commitment of $3 billion is needed to provide food, basic healthcare and AIDS prevention strategies across southern Africa.
• All developed countries must meet the United Nations aid target of 0.7 percent of their GDP within ten years.
• A community-based approach is essential when deciding how to allocate these extra resources.
• African governments must provide free, voluntary HIV testing and counselling, access to healthcare and free primary education.
• There is a need for mass AIDS public education and prevention campaigns.
• Support must be provided for community-based care of orphans and for people with HIV/AIDS; laws must be changed to allow widows to keep their land when their husbands die.
• The vital and increasing role played by churches in education and outreach work around the issue of AIDS must be recognised and supported financially.

Source(s):
‘No Excuses: Facing up to sub-Saharan Africa’s AIDS orphans crisis’ Christian Aid, by Mark Lynas, 2001 Full document.

Funded by: Christian Aid

id21 Research Highlight: 27 June 2002

Further Information:
Christian Aid
35 Lower Marsh
Waterloo
London SE1 7RT

Tel: +44 (0)207 523 2315
Contact the contributor: info@christian-aid.org

Contact the contributor: irc@christian-aid.org

Christian Aid, UK

Other related links:
'No quick fix: tackling the AIDS epidemic through combating poverty'

'A matter of time - predicting the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ukraine'

'What price children? The added value of children to rural households in Zambia'

Eldis features a focus on the impact of HIV/AIDS on children

The global impact of HIV/AIDS on youth

African children, the tragic victims of the epidemic

Children Affected and Orphaned by HIV/AIDS: A Global Perspective