January 5, 2005

This 24-page report is a collaborative publication on the part of the India HIV/AIDS Alliance, Vasavya Mahila Mandali (VMM), and other lead partners, who seeks to address the crisis of HIV/AIDS and how it impacts children in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. The report details the social, psychological, emotional, economic, medical angles of HIV/AIDS on children and their families. The report offers a first hand account from a child with AIDS, and then provides information on current care, support responses, adoption, effective initiatives and policies as well as examples of good practices. The report states that India may have the largest number of HIV/AIDS orphans in the world.

The majority of the report focuses on children under the age of ten but covers children from 11 to 15 years old as well. The current state of children in Andhra Pradesh is described with an infant mortality rate increasing; a sense of insecurity and depression among children; and children's nutrional status as decreasing.

According to the report, in some states of India, such as Andhra Pradesh, a crossover of HIV/AIDS has gone from high-risk groups to the general population. The report calls for national and state government agencies to provide more support to victims of HIV/AIDS. The India HIV/AIDS Alliance and its partners are focused on developing a child-centred approach and seek to increase capacity building in many areas such as child support activities, fostering and rights.

24 pages

English