Shock warning over AIDS orphans

With more than 11 million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS across Africa, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned in a new report that the worst was yet to come. UNICEF urged swift international aid to families and communities struggling to support HIV/AIDS orphans, calling the pandemic a "crisis of gargantuan proportions" with grave implications for African societies as more parents succumb to the pandemic. Research shows that sub-Saharan Africa is worst affected by the pandemic, where an estimated 26.6 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. In a recent statement, UNICEF executive director Carol Bellamy said: "We must keep parents alive and ensure that orphans and other vulnerable children stay in school, and are protected from exploitation and abuse." According to the report, about 20 million African children would have lost one or both parents to AIDS-related illnesses by 2010.