PRNewswire - December 22, 2003

Following her interview last week on ABC's Primetime Live Special, "Oprah in Africa," Ms. Winfrey's own television program will today focus on the crisis and show video from her recent trip to sub-Saharan Africa. Her effort to raise awareness about the AIDS pandemic and to inspire Americans to help is bringing much needed visibility to this crisis.

Today, over 11 million children under the age of 15 living in sub-Saharan Africa have lost at least one parent to HIV/AIDS. UNICEF estimates that seven years from now the number will have grown to 25 million. At that point, anywhere from 15 percent to over 25 percent of the children in a dozen sub-Saharan African countries will be orphans -- the vast majority of which will have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

"Ms. Winfrey has used her prominence to lend a voice to a silent crisis," said Charles J. Lyons, president of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. "I encourage everyone take cue from Ms. Winfrey and do what they can to help us prevent new infections and to care for children already affected."

As staggering as the numbers already are, the orphan crisis in sub-Saharan Africa is just starting to unfold. As today's young adults die in growing numbers, they leave behind an even greater number of children who will need education, food, medical care and clothes. Immediate support will allow families and communities to build the protective environment that orphans need.

UNICEF works in every African country to provide orphans with food, shelter, medical care, education, and psycho-social counseling. UNICEF helps children who have been orphaned by AIDS, children whose parents suffer from HIV/AIDS, and also works to prevent parent-to-child transmission of HIV.

The centerpiece of UNICEF's strategy is education. Most African countries charge school fees averaging about $250 a year, which is also the per capita income of the average African family. And while those fees are high for many families in Africa, they almost certainly bar children who are orphaned and alone and have no support system. A few countries, like Kenya, have abolished these fees and the school attendance rates have skyrocketed.

Education gives orphans perhaps their only opportunity to escape the conditions of desperate poverty. Because of the huge stigma surrounding AIDS, schools are the most effective means of teaching children about how to prevent transmission of the disease. Tragically, since many of these children lose their parents at such an early age, school is also the only place they can learn basic skills to survive, like farming.

How You Can Help Africa's Aids Orphans: A Little Money Goes a Long Way

* $2 buys one child a set of school supplies for one year.

* $3 provides one dose of antiretroviral drugs for an HIV+ mother or child.

* $120 will provide education, medical care, food and support for an orphaned child in Africa for one year.

* $482 can prevent the transmission of HIV from a pregnant woman to her unborn child.

* $10,000 will provide a community in Africa with a medical professional, school fees for orphans and a social worker to help identify, support and protect children orphaned by aids.

* $40,000 will provide medical kits, health care supplies and medical attention for 1000 families for one year.

* $100,000 will build a community youth center - providing 10,000 young people with education, job training, health services and recreational opportunities.

1. Donate -

Phone: 1-800-4-UNICEF (1-800-486-4233)

Web: http://www.unicefusa.org

Mail: U.S. Fund for UNICEF

Attn: HIV/AIDS Program

333 E. 38th Street

New York, NY 10016

2. Get Involved

Campus groups, businesses, schools, community groups, religious organizations -- everyone can make a difference! Please contact us to learn how you can volunteer to raise money and awareness in the United States.

Email: HIVCAMPAIGN@unicefusa.org

Phone: Ross Geisel at 212 922-2468

3. Stay Informed

Sign up for regular UNICEF email alerts http://www.unicefusa.org Visit our dedicated webpage for updates and news http://www.unicefusa.org/aids

Founded in 1946, UNICEF helps save, protect and improve the lives of children around the world through immunization, education, health care, nutrition, clean water and sanitation. UNICEF is non-partisan and its cooperation is free of discrimination. In everything it does, the most disadvantaged children and the countries in greatest need have priority. For more information, please call 1-800-4-UNICEF, or visit http://www.unicefusa.org.

SOURCE U.S. Fund for UNICEF

Web Site: http://www.unicefusa.org http://www.unicefusa.org/aids

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