AIDS Orphans: Africa's Lost Generation

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1993. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

AIDS Orphans: Africa's Lost Generation

World Watch (09/93-10/93) Vol. 6, No. 5, P. 10 (Sachs, Aaron)

While the AIDS epidemic is rampant worldwide, in Africa it is threatening not only the population's health, but its basic social structure as well. AIDS is affecting family life, a fact reflected in the rising number of orphans who have lost one or both parents to the disease. The number of children whose mothers died from AIDS is well over two million. The children are abandoned by relatives, who cling to social stigma that often accompanies AIDS. They fear accusations of homosexuality or promiscuity; yet, in Africa, the disease is primarily transmitted in a heterosexual fashion, usually between husbands and wives. The family also shuns AIDS orphans because they fear contagion; yet, only about 30 percent of babies born to HIV-positive mothers contract the disease. Rejected and alone, these children often wander the countryside, struggling to secure their physical and emotional needs. Shifts in attitude and community coping strategies are needed to provide the necessary financial and social support to manage the orphan crisis.

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