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Country's young ravaged by AIDS - MRC

    JOHANNESBURG

    As a result of HIV/AIDS, childhood mortality in South Africa is at unacceptably high levels, the country's Medical Research Council (MRC) has said.

    In a recent statement, head of the MRC's Burden of Disease research unit Debbie Bradshaw said HIV/AIDS had accounted for 40 percent of deaths among young children in 2000.

    Bradshaw said: "Although the percentage of deaths is higher in the 1 to 4 year age group, the largest number of deaths occurs in the under-one age group."

    The MRC noted that without interventions to extend the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS, the country's total premature mortality burden could be expected to double by 2010.

    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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