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Need for more interventions to assist AIDS orphans

    JOHANNESBURG

    Stronger intervention measures are needed for Kenya's growing number of HIV/AIDS orphans to benefit from the government's free primary education policy, Health Minister Charity Ngilu has said.

    The government recently announced a free primary education policy to provide for children living with, and orphaned by, HIV/AIDS.

    However, Ngilu said the high numbers were alarming and needed stronger intervention measures to provide for all the children.

    She said there were currently 1.2 million children who lacked basic needs for growth, such as food and education. Relatives of orphans also assumed ownership of their deceased parents' property, disinheriting the children who were then abandoned by the community.

    Local newspaper The East African Standard quoted Ngilu as saying: "The pandemic is subjecting children to extremely difficult conditions."

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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