Foreword
'There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children.
There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected,
that their
welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want
and that they
grow up in peace' _ Kofi A. Annan, Secretary-General of the United
Nations
It has been
estimated that in the year 2010 there will be more than 40 million orphans
around the world abandoned by society. With orphans eventually comprising up
to a third of the population under age 15 in some countries, this outgrowth
of the HIV/AIDS pandemic may create a lost generation - a large cohort of
disadvantaged, undereducated, and less-than-healthy youths.
As I attended the 12th World AIDS Conference: "Bridging the gap" in Geneva, I
noticed that only one and a half hours, out of a total of more than five
hundred, was spent discussing the issue of orphans infected and affected by
HIV/AIDS. I was shocked that the demographics did not have an impact on the
allocation of discussion time at the conference. The organisers of the
session "Taking Care of the Future: Support for Orphans" also had
difficulty getting financial support for their one and a half hour. Despite
the title of this world conference there was an unbridged gap in provision
of care and support for orphans both infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.
At the 47th General Assembly of the International Federation of Medical Student's Associations in Hurghada,
Egypt the Standing Committee on Reproductive health including AIDS adopted a
resolution to act NOW. As a result of this resolution the Children Affected
By HIV/AIDS (CABHA) project was started. The CABHA project aims to
identifying the needs of the affected community with emphasis on the
affected children and to develop a sustainable and feasible model of a
supportive network, relevant to the local society, easily adaptable to other
communities.
This paper is written with the intention to assist in the provision of background information on the
situation of these children in South- and Southeast Asia, in order to act
effectively with the project in this region.
Josette T.M. Troon
