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  • Title: Africa's children and AIDS -- a continent in crisis. The devastation of the HIV / AIDS pandemic.
    Author: Foster G.
    Journal: AIDSlink; 1997; (45):4-5. PubMed ID: 12292736.
    Abstract:
    AIDS is having a major impact upon child health. By mid-1996, UNAIDS estimated that worldwide there were 3 million HIV infections in children. Accordingly, infant mortality rates (IMRs) have increased due to AIDS, reversing declines which had been occurring in many countries over the last few decades. The IMR in 1996 would have been 51.7 per 1000 without AIDS; it is instead 72.8 with AIDS, 40% higher than expected. IMR is 30% higher than expected in Zambia and almost 20% higher in Kenya and Uganda. IMRs should grow considerably during the next decade as the epidemic spreads. Two-thirds of AIDS deaths among children occur among those aged 1-4 years, with countries in southern Africa being the most affected. With regard to life expectancy, many years of life will be lost due to the AIDS epidemic. AIDS has already led to widespread and marked reductions in life expectancy, with life expectancy for females being lower than that for males because women are infected with HIV and die at younger ages than men. Lower life expectancy will lead to an increase in the proportion of orphaned children. It is likely that at least 30 million children are living with HIV-positive parents, at risk of being orphaned in the next few years. The implications of the growing proportions of orphans and challenges in child health are considered.
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