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CNN Live Today

AIDS Conference Focuses on Orphans

Aired July 10, 2002 - 12:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: At the International AIDS Conference, activists and health officials are talking about the cost of treating HIV and AIDS patients. They are also looking at the human cost, the many children orphaned by AIDS.

CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is likely the most shocking report yet from the International AIDS Conference. By 2010, the number of children who will lose one or both parents due to AIDS will jump from 14 million to nearly 25 million.

PETER PIOT, UNAIDS: Because this is unprecedented except in times of war, where we've had this before. But then it is usually the men who disappear.

GUPTA: They are called AIDS orphans. And by 2010, in Africa, one out of every five children will be one. Some of the most heart- wrenching stories of those of young orphans suddenly thrust into adulthood and becoming the heads of households.

PIOT: When I saw that children are now taking up the roles of adults in many societies and communities that are affected by HIV, because there's just a whole generation that has disappeared because of AIDS. And, therefore, they can't go through normal development.

GUPTA (on camera): Experts say that caring for orphans within their community is essential. Extended family care is far and away the best environment for a child, not to mention that building enough orphanages for just the current orphans would mean building a 100-bed orphanage every day for 20 years.

(voice-over): While, in many situations, the HIV virus itself was not transmitted to the child, but the social stigma of AIDS was.

PIOT: If your father died in the war, he was a hero. If he died from AIDS, there's shame over the whole family.

GUPTA: And like the disease driving them, these numbers show no signs of being contained.

CAROL BELLAMY, UNICEF: Even if today, the AIDS -- the pandemic started to level out, the growth in orphans would continue for another 10 years.

GUPTA: Experts say there are several top priorities: supporting the communities who care for orphans; treating parents with medicine to keep them alive; and keeping children in school.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: And these priorities that were outlined right there are what a lot of the researchers and experts are talking about at this conference. Certainly, making those priorities are going to be something towards getting those kids back into the communities where they belong. It's a very tough obstacle, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes, I can just imagine.

What about numbers, Sanjay? How many kids are we talking about have AIDS? And have you had a chance to talk with any of the families that have been affected by this?

GUPTA: Right. Yes. The numbers are staggering, Kyra. There's no question.

We have heard about AIDS globally: 40 million are infected. Three million of those are in kids under 15. And when you talk about the orphans, it gets even more heart-wrenching: 14 million orphans, meaning that they either lost one or both parents, exist today. And the number is expected to go up to 25 million just within the next eight years. There are families around here. We've had a chance to sit down and speak with some of them. And the stories are just really unbelievable.

PHILLIPS: Sanjay Gupta, live from Barcelona -- thanks, Sanjay.

And for more on the AIDS epidemic, live on to the online special at CNN.com. Learn how HIV attacks healthy cells and take an interactive look at the history of the disease and much more -- AOL keyword: CNN.

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