Orphans are Africa's next AIDS challenge - report

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 15 (Reuters) More than 15 million children in sub-Saharan Africa will have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS by 2010, straining social safety networks as poor countries battle the epidemic, according to a a report.

The report by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), UNAIDS and the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) yesterday said Africa's AIDS crisis was increasingly taking a toll on the younger generation.

''Millions of children affected by AIDS are out of school, growing up alone, vulnerable to poverty, marginalisation and discrimination,'' UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Rima Salah said in a statement on the report, released to coincide with the International AIDS Conference in Toronto.

''Children who have lost parents and care-givers are left without their first line of defence.'' The report said children are often disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, which not only robs them of parents but also of education and health care as doctors, nurses and teachers succumb to the epidemic.

AIDS is responsible for about 12 million of the 48 million children who have lost one or both parents in sub-Saharan Africa. In Zambia, with a population of about 10 million, there are an estimated one million children needing additional care.

INTERNATIONAL AID The report said the rising numbers of children losing parents to HIV/AIDS was making it hard for surviving parents or extended families to step in with assistance, requiring greater help from the international community.

''By strengthening critical programs at the local level, the international community can ensure that orphaned and vulnerable children receive the care, support and protection they need,'' said Kent Hill, assistant administrator of the Bureau for Global Health at USAID, the US aid agency.

Children affected by AIDS are at higher risk of missing school, nutritional problems and anxiety, the report said. It added that they are also at higher risk of HIV infection, with girls and young women aged 15-24 particularly vulnerable.

The report said that even in countries where the HIV/AIDS epidemic appears to be stabilising or on the decline, the number of orphans will continue to grow or at least remain high due to the time lag between HIV infection and death.

The growing extent of Africa's AIDS orphan crisis requires new interventions at the local, national and international level, the report said.

Prolonging the lives of parents, through the provision of AIDS treatments such as anti-retroviral drugs, would be one key tep toward improving the situation, as would basic steps such as eliminating school fees, which might keep AIDS orphans in class and improve their future prospects.

Another important task is strengthening community organisations to help care for children and fight the stigma of HIV/AIDS, which pushes many affected children to the margins of society at the moment of their greatest need.

REUTERS MS RN0855