AIDS leaves 9 mln African children without mothers

[TechBear_Seattle]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Some 9 million children in Africa have lost a mother to AIDS, British charity Save the Children said Monday, calling on donors to sharply increase aid to meet their needs.

"Incredibly, the impact of HIV and AIDS on children is still being ignored," Save the Children Chief Executive Jasmine Whitbread said in a statement.

The charity said in a report that a lack of testing facilities meant that many mothers, especially in the poorest countries, did not know their HIV status until they were ill and unable to fight off even the simplest infections.

"The AIDS pandemic robs millions of children of their childhoods as well as their mothers," Whitbread said. "Children are caring for their mothers, missing school, and having to work because their mothers are too sick to look after them."

The charity called for a focus on children orphaned by AIDS as well as sick parents, adding red tape was slowing aid flows.

"Donors must spend 12 percent of their AIDS funding on proper support for children," it said, adding this would amount to $6.4 billion over a three-year period.

In 2006, if Britain, the United States and Ireland met all their pledges, there would be $412 million committed for children -- or about one quarter of the $2.1 billion needed per year.

The article continues at http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060320/hl_nm/aids_africa_dc

Just a reminder that, world wide, HIV is almost exclusively a heterosexual disease.

[xultar]

1. I think I'm going over to adopt one.

[MissB]

15. Good.

:toast:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. Hey, Let's teach them abstinence instead of giving them meds!

There's an idea!

[tatertop]

3. Abstinence and Born Again Christianitie!

While no attempt will be made to stop The Hand of GOD
(this tidal wave of horrible preventable death), if the sinners
repent and send Jack and Rexella lots of money (and please note that last part about THE MON-EY)the Lord shall heal their immortal souls.

When Jack and Rexella pray, they pray for a new profit center.

[TechBear_Seattle]

5. How many of these children would still have their mothers if...

If the Catholic Church would stop putting doctrinal purity ahead of human sufferning and endorse the use of condoms for disease prevention?

[killbotfactory]

14. And no condoms, either!

That just encourages them to have sex!

[megatherium]

16. they cannot afford condoms, too expensive, alas. nt

[hopeisaplace]

4. Oh. My. Gawd. that is absolutely horrific.

My heart breaks for the children who suffer.
It breaks into pieces every time I think of a child
that needs love. If I could put my arms around every
child and tell them it will be OK, I would do it.
which is why I wrote the poem, AND THE CHILDREN DIE.

[bobbieinok]

6. doesn't female genital mutilation make women very susceptible to AIDS

have read that many societies that do this also sew vagina after intercourse so that 'each time it's like with a virgin'

[barb162]

8. ohmygod, that is disgusting; never heard that one before

[Kailassa]

9. I doubt they go that far, but ...

I have read accounts of husbands who are going away from home to work getting the wives sewn up again to guarantee their purity while they're gone.

[clyrc]

7. It's too much to wrap my brain around

lately the suffering many in this world have to live through has been on my mind, and this is just horrible. Damn.

[cantstandbush]

10. nd we keep pushing aid without contraception!! Bastards!! n/t

[Stockholm]

11. Kick

n/t

[arwalden]

12. Is Condom Use Being Encouraged? If Not... Why?

[TechBear_Seattle]

13. It is better that mothers die and children be left as orphans...

... than permit such a horrific sin as condoms or other birth control :sarcasm:

That has been the Catholic Church's opinion in the matter from the very start of the HIV pandemic, and I doubt a visitation from God Himself could change anyone's mind at the Vatican.

[megatherium]

17. Some African countries have mounted "ABC" campaigns, such as Uganda.

(ABC = Abstinence Before marriage else use Condoms.) But condoms are hard to come by (too expensive, not widely distributed). So Uganda has stressed the A and B part of the slogan -- with success. Instead of having infection rates of 30% or more, as in certain neighboring countries, they managed to keep it down to 10-15%.