AIDS orphans are children who became orphans because one or both parents died from AIDS.
In statistics from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the term is used for a child whose mother has died due to AIDS before the child's 15th birthday, regardless of whether the father is still alive. As a result of this definition, one study estimated that 80% of all orphans still have one living parent.
There are 70,000 new orphans a year.By the year 2010, it is estimated that over 20 million children will be orphaned by AIDS.
Because AIDS affects mainly those who are sexually active, AIDS-related deaths are often people who are their family's primary wage earners. The resulting AIDS orphans frequently depend on the state for care and financial support, particularly in Africa.
The highest number of orphans due to AIDS alive in 2007 was in South Africa (although the definition of orphan in South African statistics includes children up to the age of 18 who have lost either biological parent). In 2005 the highest number of orphans as a percentage of all orphans was in Zimbabwe.
These orphans are one of the most vulnerable groups in the world and care must be taken to protect them.
The number of children headed homes has gone up as many children are left to fed for themselves and their brothers and sisters. This has lead to reduction in nutritional levels and nutritional intake as these children cannot be able to fed themselves properly.
The orphans have also led to an emergence of a new trend where old people have taken up the responsibility of bringing up their grandchildren. Since the grand parents are not in their prime production ages, it has been observed that the overall health and well being of the AIDS orphans has been on the decline.
Another problem encountered is a situation where the orphans have been taken to orphanages and they have exerted a lot of pressure on the resources of this orphanages. since most of the orphanages depend on donations, it has become increasingly difficult to take care of this children orphaned by AIDS.
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