AIDS & The Orphan Crisis

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Globally more than 40 Million are Infected with HIV and AIDS

Globally, it is estimated that more than forty million people live infected with HIV and AIDS. In 2005 alone, an estimated 3.1 million people died as a result of AIDS and another 4.9 million were newly infected with HIV. HIV and AIDS are uniquely devastating in that they overwhelmingly afflict the most productive segment of society – the population aged 15 to 45 years old.

Southern Africa is the Epicenter of the AIDS Pandemic

In no region of the world has the impact of AIDS been more devastating than in sub-Saharan Africa – with an estimated 24.5 million people infected with HIV. Between 20% and 32% of pregnant women are HIV+ in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, with the spread of infection steadily increasing throughout the region. Home to the largest HIV/AIDS-affected population and the highest infection rates in the world, southern Africa is the global epicenter of the AIDS pandemic.

There will be more than 20 million AIDS orphans by 2010

AIDS afflicts the foundation of society – the teachers, civil servants, engineers, government officials, health workers, businessmen and women, and laborers who drive the economy and uphold the community and the household. Even more, those most affected by HIV and AIDS are often parents. As a result, more than 15 million children worldwide had been orphaned by 2003 as a result of HIV/AIDS. By 2010, there will be more than 20 million AIDS orphans.

Less than 5% of Orphans Receive Assistance

Sadly, of the millions of African children orphaned and at risk today, less than 5% receive assistance of any kind. With the inadequate level of assistance available and the number of AIDS orphans expected to rise to more than 20 million by 2010, more than 19.7 million children will be effectively abandoned, lacking even the most basic life-saving assistance. Without an education, without adequate nutrition, without basic shelter and housing, without guidance, without support and without hope, these children will continue to suffer needlessly and struggle from day to day to merely survive. The lives of tens of millions of children are at stake. The time to act is now!

The Lives of Tens of Millions of Children are at Stake