More AIDS orphan by 2005 - health minister

Some 780,000 children in Zimbabwe have lost at least one parent due to AIDS-related illnesses, local newspaper The Herald reported on Wednesday. Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr David Parirenyatwa, said more than 1,1 million of the country's children below the age of 15 years could be orphaned by 2005. Addressing the start of a four-day workshop on orphans and vulnerable children earlier this week, Parirenyatwa expressed concern over the increasing number of child-headed families. "It is sad to note that an average 2,000 people die of HIV/AIDS every week, and most of them are in the economically active and reproductive age group," Parirenyatwa said. He urged delegates to "pool resources together in a tripartite framework" that involved the public and private sectors and civil society in order to help the orphans and vulnerable children.