AFRICA - AIDS: BY 2010 TWENTY FIVE MILLION ORPHANS

Rome (Fides Service) – The living conditions of people in southern Africa are alarming for various reasons, including drought, bad government, political instability and in particular AIDS, The poorest countries are the most affected. About 75% live in sub-Saharan Africa, more than 90% of 13 million AIDS orphans in the world live in Africa; in some countries they are 9% of the population. In Sub Saharan Africa 2.4 four million children under 15 are HIV positive. Most of them contracted the disease during maternity, birth or breast feeding. According to recent figures released by the 14th International AIDS Conference in Barcelona Spain, there is no sign of improvement in the AIDS epidemic. By 2010 the number of AIDS orphans will have reached the 25 million mark. AP (Fides Service 25/7/2003 EM lines 13Words: 144)