Need for more interventions to assist AIDS orphans

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."