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"AIDS 'Tsunami'
Threatens Africa Children: Red Cross"
Reuters (15/05/05)
Wednesday in Johannesburg, the Red Cross issued a warning of "a silent
tsunami" wiping out an entire generation as it launched a campaign to help
millions of African children orphaned or otherwise affected by HIV/AIDS. The
campaign, which spans 10 southern African countries, aims to step up
HIV/AIDS prevention measures as well as the Red Cross's programs of support
and home-based care for children affected by the pandemic. The Red Cross
called for closer cooperation with other organizations to improve the care
given AIDS orphans within their own communities."If we do not do something
today, we will lose the administrators, business leaders, workers, and
customers of tomorrow," said Emma Kundishora of Zimbabwe's Red Cross. "We
have to start investing in these children now."
The
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies estimates
12.3 million African children have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Orphans
and children caring for sick parents are less likely to remain in school and
are more vulnerable to abuse and prostitution, according to the federation.
AIDS workers say the pandemic is affecting all levels of community and
economic life, killing skilled workers and family breadwinners at the most
productive phases of their lives, and robbing rural communities of
agricultural workers and skills normally passed from generation to
generation.
In
a short film on AIDS' effect on children, Francoise Le Goff, regional head
of the Red Cross in southern Africa, said, "If we don't prepare the
children, if we don't train them. it's the future workforce which is at
stake."
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