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Fighting HIV/AIDS in Swaziland
The impact of HIV/AIDS has reversed
many of the social, economic and development
gains Swaziland has made in the
last two decades. This country is home to
1.3 million people, and a third of adults
are HIV positive. As many as 75,000 children
have been left orphaned by the virus
and live in institutions that dot the landscape
of this small kingdom. Experts estimate
that by 2010, the number of orphans
could climb to 120,000.
A grant of US$30 million from the Global
Fund will support a variety of health-care
initiatives to provide prevention, care and
support for the entire population of the
country. Within two years, 95 percent of
doctors and midwives will be trained to
prevent mother-to-child transmission of
HIV/AIDS, and health-care facilities
across the country will offer:
- Antiretroviral therapy to several thousand people living with HIV/AIDS;
- Medicines to treat sexually transmitted infections;
- Activities encouraging changes in the behavior that spreads HIV;
- Expanded voluntary counseling and testing services;
- Home-based care for the terminally ill; and
- Provision of social and legal assistance to people living with HIV/AIDS.
Today, nearly 20 percent of the Global
Fund’s two-year commitment has been
disbursed to Swaziland’s National Emergency
Response Council on HIV/AIDS,
which has bolstered outreach to the country’s
orphans. With the new backing, the
government is deploying a comprehensive
set of services that provide orphans with
food, rehabilitate the institutions in which
they live and offer educational opportunities
through scholarships.
These activities are conducted within a
traditional, community-based context
whereby village chiefs guide Swaziland’s
community-based efforts to care for its
orphans. In every village, community
caregivers are appointed to monitor and
support each child. Chiefs allocate land
upon which communities grow maize and
beans to ensure that there is sufficient
food to feed the orphans. Each community
establishes income-generating activities
to nurture and sustain the child with
multiple practical needs that range from
food, shelter and medical care to emotional
sustenance and education.
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