Get the Facts

AIDS in Africa touches children in two ways:

1. A disease that kills their parents, leaving them orphans,
2. A disease that infects children themselves.

10% of the world’s people live in Africa, but it is home to 90 percent of the world’s HIV-infected children. This year it is estimated that over 470,000 children will die in the countries south of the Sahara from AIDS. Out of every 100 children born to HIV-positive mothers, approximately 33 will be born also with the virus. Most of these children will not live to see their 5th birthdays. It is tragic that these children carry this silent killer, often because of their parent’s actions.

Sophie, like many other girls, was infected by a man convinced that having sex with a virgin would cure him. Some men are targeting younger and younger girls as sexual partners in an attempt avoid infection, and in turn infecting the girls.

Children with AIDS suffer on many levels. They often need to drop out of school to care for a dying parent or to care and provide for younger siblings. This takes away any hope of a good education for them. In some cases orphans have no choice but to form child-headed households in which older children raise their younger brothers and sisters. These households are among the most economically vulnerable in Africa...read more.