WINDHOEK, Dec 17 (AFP) - Namibia is set to introduce "orphan tax" to help alleviate the plight of some 82,000 children, more than half of them left parentless because of HIV/AIDS, The Namibian newspaper reported Tuesday.
The southwest African country's cabinet announced Monday that Finance Minister Nangolo Mbumba had been asked to establish an Orphan and Vulnerable Children's Fund, which would be supported by a tax levy.
There are currently 82,671 orphans in Namibia, an estimated 47,000 due to the pandemic, in the country with a population of around 1.8 million people.
The number of orphans is expected to soar to 251,000 by 2021 because of HIV/AIDS, the paper added.
No figures were given yet on the amounts to be paid, set to be introduced in March next year.
Currently the United Nations estimates that there are some 884,000 AIDS orphans in southern Africa in Botswana (69,000), Lesotho (73,000), Namibia (47,000), South Africa (660,000) and Swaziland (35,000).
Sub-Saharan Africa is by far the worst affected region in the world, with 70 percent of all new infections.
021217
AF0212C5
Copyright © AFP or Agence France-Presse, 2002 - All Rights Reserved. AFP articles contained on the AEGiS web site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without AFP's prior written permission. You may make one copy of each article for your personal, non-commercial use only; more copies would require AFP's prior written permission.. http://www.afp.com/
AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, the National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2002. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1990, 2002 - AEGiS. AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.
