Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - Sunday 14 July, 2002
Michael Schmidt and Andre Jurgens
Dr Haroon Saloojee, principal specialist and head of community paediatrics at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, confirmed yesterday that he had seen a DRAMATIC rise in the number of malnourished children. He said one out of every 10 children admitted to the hospital was suffering from SEVERE malnutrition.
"While we had almost eliminated the [malnutrition] problem in urban areas by the early 1990s, it has returned with a vengeance.
"The number of malnutrition cases has risen dramatically over the last decade. As many as 10% of children being admitted now have severe malnutrition and there is one explanation for that - it is clearly the HIV/Aids epidemic."
Saloojee said that apart from HIV/Aids leaving orphans who were vulnerable to malnutrition, the virus itself often led to malnutrition in infected children.
Margaret Pappas, manager of the Benoni branch of the Red Cross, agreed that the situation was getting worse by the day. "There is a major problem out there. There is enormous need and it's not only in black areas - it's in white areas too."
Busi Nkosi, nursing services manager at Cotlands Baby Sanctuary, said more young children in and around the city were showing signs of malnutrition.
Cotlands cares for abused, abandoned and terminally ill HIV-positive babies.
"The signs of malnutrition are found in homes where Aids has left parents unable to work or care for their children. It is quite overwhelming to find children with nothing to eat in a city like Johannesburg where there is so much wealth," she said.
Meanwhile, Panyaza Lesufi, spokesman for Gauteng Social Services and Population Development MEC Angie Motshekga, admitted this week that social services were being swamped by the number of starving children.
He said Gauteng's feeding scheme, which was introduced in May, had exceeded its limit of 900 000 children THREE years ahead of target.
He said the province had also been forced to provide food during the school holidays because it was the only source of food for many children.
"Nationally confirmed statistics are that three million children are malnourished," Lesufi said, "and we are the second most populous province, so you can safely say that 25% of those are in Gauteng . . . It's a quantum leap, a major increase over previous years."
Lesufi said HIV/Aids, massive job losses, the collapse of poverty alleviation projects, the inadequacies of the social security system and a chronic lack of ID documents necessary to secure child grants were fuelling the crisis.- only 30% of all households have them - leaving families unable to prove they qualified for the child grant.
Lesufi welcomed the recommendation of the Taylor Commission of Inquiry into the welfare system that recommended the R130--month child-support grant be extended up to the age of 18.
Margaret Pappas, manager of the Benoni branch of the Red Cross, told Metro this week: "There is a major problem out there. There is enormous need and it's not only in black areas - it's in white areas too."
Busi Nkosi, nursing services manager at Cotlands Baby Sanctuary, said more young children were showing signs of malnutrition in and around the city.
Cotlands cares for abused, abandoned and terminally ill HIV-positive babies.
"The signs of malnutrition are found in homes where AIDS has left parents unable to work or care for their children. It is quite overwhelming to find children with nothing to eat in a city like Johannesburg where there is so much wealth," she said.
Nkosi vividly remembers taking milk formula to a home in Diepkloof where a woman recently had died, leaving her five-month-old baby in the care of her elderly mother. She arrived and discovered there was no food at all for the baby.
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