Panafrican News Agency - November 27, 2001
The census, conducted by an NGO, Medecins d'Afrique (doctors of Africa) has so far identified nearly 5,000 of such AIDS orphans in the Congolese capital alone.
Since October, officers of the NGO have been examining hospital records so as to find the children left behind by people who died of AIDS-related ailments.
According to the co-ordinator of the census, Dr Franck Fortune Mboussou, social assistants, associations of people living with HIV and organisations catering for orphans are also helping in the exercise.
He said that the data would be used in the conception of an envisaged project to cater for such needy children at all levels.
"The main purpose of this project is to ensure the social protection of AIDS orphans by improving access to basic services and by creating the necessary conditions for their development," Mboussou added.
To ensure that all AIDS orphans are included, investigators are also conducting interviews to find those whose parents died of AIDS-related diseases outside hospitals.
"We ask them what their parent died of and we focus on the disease's symptoms in case no medical records exist. Very strict instructions were given to officer conducting the census," Mboussou added.
UNICEF and other organisations working with Medecins d'Afrique finance the project.
Multiform assistance would later be provided to the orphans by a number of organisations including the National AIDS control programme, World Food Programme, the mobile treatment centre and Compagnons Don Bosco.
According to a psychologist involved in the project, Julien Mackaya, traumatised children will be offered assistance in ten integrated medical centres in the Brazzaville area.
"Children who lack psychological assistance are the bandits of tomorrow or the future street children," he added.
The orphans will be provided food rations at the end of each month. "Those who are in families will receive a family rations while those learning a trade will get individual rations," Dr Mboussou said.
The 10 integrated treatment centres will offer free consultations to help the orphans. Those who are still in school will also be helped to continue learning while others will receive vocational training.
On the other hand, guardians of these AIDS orphans will receive refundable loans of between 15,000 FCFA and 150,000 FCFA to enable them initiate income-generating activities.
Established by Congolese doctors in 1995, "Medecins d'Afrique" is currently engaged in a vast programme to combat AIDS through its documentation, information and AIDS counselling centre.
Financed by the French embassy, this centre has been offering various services intended to raise public's awareness on the dangers of the pandemic.
HIV/AIDS affects more than 100,000 in Congo, whose average HIV prevalence is estimated at 7.78 percent.
AIDS has become the first cause of mortality among people aged between 15 and 49. In December 2000, AIDS has caused an estimated 64,000 orphans in Congo.
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