"NEW YORK, USA, 6 December 2005 – The tiny southern African nation of Swaziland has been hit hard by the AIDS pandemic. Of the country’s population of one million, there are more than 200,000 people living with HIV. And the number of children orphaned by the disease now exceeds 70,000. These children often lack food and are cut off from basic health services and education. Many of these children wind up living with their extended families, whose resources are increasingly stretched to the breaking point. How best to care for these many children has become a huge challenge for communities, humanitarian aid organizations and the government."
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"But more remains to be done. Swaziland’s HIV prevalence among pregnant women has grown steadily from 3.9 per cent in 1992 to 42.6 per cent in 2004. And 4,000 new infections occur annually among infants. Mr. Brody said that the donors shouldn’t be discouraged because the ‘Orphan City’ proposal didn’t work out.
“We are in the midst of an unprecedented crisis affecting children and the whole society. The Swazi people desperately need support, and they need the support in the long run.”
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/swaziland_30345.html
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