Swaziland: Awash With Orphans, Swazis Fear Future

In Swaziland, population 1 million, 42.6 percent of the adult population is infected with HIV/AIDS. Three years ago, that figure was 34.2 percent. The infection rate is 56 percent for Swazis ages 25-29.

"If the situation persists, we will be extinct as a Swazi people," said Faith Dlamini, coordinator for AIDS prevention at the National Emergency Response Council. At present, one Swazi in every 15 is an AIDS orphan; in five years, such orphans will make up an eighth of the population. Every town and village has an army of orphans.

The government pays primary school fees for AIDS orphans, but so far no international donor has come forward to fund one meal for every school child per day. Many Swazis worry about what sort of society will emerge from a country full of orphans. "When these young orphans have matured, what kind of adults will they become?" Dlamini asked. "It's a frightening prospect."

Although the statistics are dispiriting, there is one area of improvement: the infection rate in Swazis ages 15-19 has fallen to 24 percent, suggesting more teens are practicing safe sex and abstinence.

Swaziland's challenges in fighting HIV/AIDS mirror those across Africa, where 25 million are infected and 16 million have died. Since the continent's fractured health systems cannot contain, let alone reverse, the epidemic, Britain has called on the G8 countries to double their flow of aid.

Back to other news for June 7, 2005