Give a child love, laughter and peace, not AIDS.
- Due to devastating effect of HIV/AIDS by 2002, nearly 2.5 million children under 18 in Uganda had lost at least one parent (and were therefore defined as orphans), of which 351,074 had lost both.An estimated 96,000 under the age of 14 years have HIV/AIDS.
- Many more are directly affected by HIV/AIDS as family members become too unwell to care for them. When a parent has HIV/AIDS they are often too ill to work, forcing children to take on the responsibility of looking after and feeding the family. In the majority of cases, this means the child has to stop going to school.
- Many of these children live in communities where there are widespread misconceptions about the causes of HIV/AIDS. After their parents die from HIV/AIDS-related complications, they are shunned by neighbors and community members for fear of catching the disease. Orphans find themselves isolated within their communities, surrounded by those who are unwilling or unable to reach out to them.
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AIDS is equally prevalent throughout the country. In recent years, significant progress has been made regarding AIDS-prevention. Still, the virulence of this virus remains disconcerting. Too many children still become orphans as a result of AIDS, and their future remains very dark.