Parliament to address AIDS orphans issue

Kenya's parliament has announced plans to establish a special committee to deal with issues affecting HIV/AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children. Elias Mbau, the member of parliament for eastern Kenya's Maragwa district, said the idea for the committee was a result of the rising number of AIDS orphans in the country, a local newspaper, The East African Standard, reported. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) recently launched a campaign urging politicians to address the plight of the country's 1.2 million AIDS orphans. And the National AIDS Control Council said orphans had been ignored by NGOs seeking funding from the council.