Summary

This book draws together the latest statistics and analyses on the impacts of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the children of South Africa and provides a comprehensive discussion of current interventions and their effectiveness to address the situation. The epidemic is and will continue to have a devastating impact upon all of South African society. Over 5 million citizens are infected. One vulnerable group in South African society who will be harmed by the epidemic is children. About 18 million children live in South Africa. These least powerful members of our society will experience parental loss, household upheaval, increased poverty and, for those unfortunate enough to be infected themselves, death as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. By 2010, South Africa will have almost 3 million orphans as a result of the epidemic. This book has three main aims. One is to analyze the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic upon the children of South Africa, with a focus on health, welfare and education. Another is to examine the responses of families, communities, civil society and especially governments to the crisis confronting the children. Impacts and Interventions critiques those responses and offers alternatives which may assist in ameliorating the impacts on children.