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Some 1 million children in Mozambique have dropped out of school due to the effects of HIV/AIDS on their families, a government official has said.
Higidio Marrule, an official with the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said growing numbers of children were also being left to fend for themselves after losing one or both parents to AIDS-related illnesses.
Speaking at a recent international AIDS conference in the capital, Maputo, he appealed to all sectors of society to help meet the challenges imposed on children by the pandemic.
Marrule was quoted by the South African Press Association (SAPA) as saying: "People must understand that the HIV/AIDS problem is not the problem of the government or of charity organisations [alone], but ... [of] society as a whole."
Southern Africa is home to over 70 percent of the world's HIV-positive people, and research shows that the pandemic has led to an alarming increase in the number of households headed by children, the chronically ill and grandparents.
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