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Treat dying HIV/AIDS orphans - lobby group

    JOHANNESBURG

    Burundi's government was criticised on Thursday for the poor care and treatment programmes available to HIV/AIDS orphans.

    AIDS lobby group Famille pour Vaincre le Sida (FVS) said less than five percent of the country's HIV-positive children were receiving antiretroviral treatment.

    UNAIDS estimates that some 55,000 children under the age of 14 are living with HIV/AIDS in Burundi.

    "Priority is not put on the medical care of HIV/AIDS orphans because their guardians have already considered them sentenced to death," FVS director, Spès Nihangaza, told the UN news service PlusNews.

    Nihangaza urged the government to use recent World Bank loans and Global AIDS Fund grants for the treatment of HIV/AIDS orphans.

    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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