Ja: Peter paying for Paul

Local officials estimate that between 10,000 and 20,000 children under 18 years old are directly affected by a parent's or caregiver's HIV-infection. In addition, statistics from the National HIV/AIDS/STI Control Programme for January to June 2003 said that an estimated 5,125 children under the age of 15 years have had the misfortune of losing a mother or both parents to the disease.

Dr. Carr said that the high rates are having a devastating impact on children. "It affects them materially because they are not able to go to school, it affects them psychologically because they have to deal with the fact of their caregiver's illness and in some instances they have to deal with the stigma and discrimination of the communities," he said.

Dr. Carr noted that his organisation is aware of cases where children were asked to leave school and where members of the community, children and adults alike, have taunted them.

He further stated that there are a number of cases of children wandering the streets because their main caregiver has died of the disease, adding that there were instances where children were left to take care of households.