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Older
people and orphans overlooked by HIV/Aids policymakers
By Irin, Africapulse.com
September
19, 2003
HIV/Aids policymakers are
not acknowledging the key roles of senior citizens and orphans in their
strategies to combat the pandemic, says an NGO report released this week.
"Few national HIV/Aids policies pay adequate attention to the growing
numbers of orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/Aids, and even
less make provision for their older carers and guardians," says the
report entitled "Forgotten families, Older People as Carers of
Orphans and Vulnerable Children" written by HelpAge International and
International HIV/Aids Alliance.
Currently about 16 million children under the age of 15 worldwide have
lost one or both parents to AIDS. The figure is expected to rise to a
staggering 40 million in 10 years time. Many of the children are taken in
by grandparents, who stuggle with meagre resources to support them. The
World Bank estimates that in
South Africa
and
Uganda
40 percent of orphaned children live with their
grandparents, and in
Zimbabwe
over half.
Although large extended families living together is nothing new in most of
Africa
, several distinctive characteristics govern the
families affected by HIV/AIDS, says the report: usually the middle
generation is entirely absent; there are large numbers of orphans; an
increasing number of these households are headed by older women; and they
belong to the poorest sections of society.
A study in
Kenya
showed that while average household expenditure
was about 6,800 ksh (
US
) per month, the average income of households
was about 2,400 ksh (
US
). To cope with the costs, older people are
forced to sell off their land, property, cattle and other assets, while
family expenses - including treatment for sick family members and funerals
- go up.
Compounding the poverty trap, many female seniors lack inheritance rites
to family land and property, and orphaned children often have no knowledge
of, or are prevented access to, their entitlement to their deceased
parents' wealth.
Health care is also inaccessible in many cases, as it is concentrated in
urban centres. So is education for children who are caring for sick family
members and working to support their families.
On top of this, accurate information regarding HIV/AIDS, which might help
to prevent the cycle of sickness and poverty, is often unavailable or
inaccessible due to low literacy levels. "Prevention and awareness
programmes are almost exclusively targeted at young people, and rarely
reach out to older age groups, either as carers or possible 'at risk'
groups," says the report. So while older people often act as
educators and moral guides in their societies and at home, they remain
ignorant about the facts.
The report has a number of recommendations including income support for
families to help them to cope; accessible health care for all; flexible
schooling for children to allow them to attend school; and awareness
programmes targeting older people.
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© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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