CHILD Protection & Rights > Protection Issues > Protecting Hiv/Aids Affected Children From Vulnerability And Discrimination

2. What is the impact of HIV/AIDS on Children?

Many situations in which children have a weak protection - including trafficking, sexual abuse and commercial exploitation, child marriage, detention, armed conflict or recruitment in armed forces or groups as well as natural disasters among others - make them more vulnerable to HIV infection.

Stigma and discrimination, often associated with HIV infection, can lead to their exclusion and isolation. HIV threats their life and development and may deprive them of parental care if their parents are infected.

Some effects of HIV/AIDS on children are:

- Many children are themselves infected with HIV/AIDS.

- Children affected by HIV/AIDS or children of parents affected by HIV/AIDS face large discrimination to access basic services such as education and health care.

- Children live with family members who are infected with HIV/AIDS.

- Children may have to care for their sick parents who are HIV/AIDS positive.

- Children may have to care for their younger siblings if their parents are HIV/AIDS positive, unable to work to earn money or dead.

- Children may sometime become child labourers and principal wage earners in their family, as HIV/AIDS prevents adults from working and creates expensive medical bills.

- Many children are orphaned, they have lost one or both parents to AIDS.

- Even when they are placed under state protection in institutional care their needs are rarely satisfied and they face numerous violations of their fundamental rights and freedoms.

- Children orphaned by HIV/AIDS are more exposed to exploitation, abuse and violence.

AIDS ravages also communities and may affect children indirectly:

- Schools lose teachers and children are unable to access education.

- Doctors and nurses die, and children find it difficult to gain care for childhood diseases.

- Children may lose their friends to AIDS.