Children with AIDS in Africa

The above map shows the estimated % of children (0-14yrs) with HIv receiving anteretroviral therapy in 2015. Whilst the figures are now dated they are the mopst up-to-date avaiable and provide a good indication of the number of children in Africa with HIV/AIDS. [Credit: Afro-dev.info]

AIDS is a fairy recent phenomenon, one that is now known to have started in Africa after scientists identified a strain of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus in Cameroon chimpanzee colonies ~ SIV being a 'viral ancestor' of the HIV-1 virus that causes AIDS in humans. AIDS was first transferred to humans in the 1930s with HIV-2 being identified as migrating to humans in Guinea-Bissau during the 1940s. At this stage AIDS was still a relatively unknown virus and even by the 1960s only around 200 infections had been noted, though possibly the figure was somewhat higher as medical staff were not fully aware of its existence. However in the 1970s, the virus entered the urban social network after a solitary infected individual travelled down the River Congo from Cameroon and arrived at the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital city, Kinshasa.

A tragedy of epidemic proportions was about to begin; an epidemic that was sweep across Africa claiming the lives of the equivalent of the entire combined populations of London and New York by 2007. Children in Africa become infected with AIDS for very much the same reasons as all children throughout the world, however certain cultural issues and practices in Africa has made the spread more endemic. Firstly, a lack of education and awareness amongst parents and children is a major contributory factor, particularly street children who are out of education and often sexually exploited by infected adults.

Although direct sexual contact is not a major factor in AIDS transmission, in certain countries such as Lesotho 30% of boys report that they have had sex before the age of 15yrs compared with 6% in developed countries. Such sex is often with older, unprotected partners. By far, most children in Africa with AIDS are infected through their mother either during pregnancy or by breastfeeding.

The table below gives facts and figures for children living with AIDS for each country in Africa. [Please note: We are awaiting more up-to-date figures covering the period > 2019, however the following provides a snapshot of the situation.}

Country	Child population (0 -17yrs)	Number of children (0-14yrs) infected	Orphaned by AIDS (0-17yrs)
Algeria	11,712,000	No data	No data
Angola	9,405.000	17,000	50,000
Benin	4,309,000	5,400	29,000
Botswana	778,000	15,000	95,000
Burkina Faso	8,043,000	10,000	100,000
Burundi	3,733,000	15,000	120,000
Cameroon	9,142,000	45,000	300,000
Cape Verde	221,000	No data	No data
Central African Republic	2,061,000	14,000	72,000
Chad	5,724,000	19,000	85,000
Comoros	293,000	No data	No data
Congo, DR	39,000,000	43,000	320,000
Congo, Republic	1,716,000	6,600	69,000
Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)	9,768,000	52,000	420,000
Djibouti	371,000	1,100	5,000
Egypt	31,527,000	No data	No data
Equatorial Guinea	317,000	No data	5,000
Eritrea	2,368,000	3,100	18,000
Ethiopia	41,018,000	92,000	650,000
Gabon	633,000	2,300	18,000
Gambia	811,000	No data	3,000
Ghana	10.585,000	17,000	160,000
Guinea	4,872,000	6,300	25,000
Guinea-Bissau	769,000	1,500	6,000
Kenya	19,182,000	No data	No data
Lesotho	954,000	12,000	110,000
Liberia	1,878,000	3,100	15,000
Libya	2,220,000	No data	No data
Madagascar	9,571,000	No data	3,000
Malawi	7,900,000	91,000	550,000
Mali	6,507,000	9,400	44,000
Mauritania	1,489,000	No data	3,000
Mauritius	361,000	No data	No data
Morocco	11,030,000	No data	No data
Mozambique	11,315,000	100,000	400,000
Namibia	946,000	14,000	66,000
Niger	8,429,000	3,200	25,000
Nigeria	74,519,000	220,000	1,200.000
Rwanda	4,757,000	19,000	220,000
Sao Tome and Principe	77,000	No data	No data
Senegal	6,198,000	3,100	8,000
Seychelles	43,000	No data	No data
Sierra Leone	2,753,000	4,000	16,000
Somalia	4,562,000	No data	9,000
South Africa	18,286,000	280,000	1,400,000
Sudan	19,098,000	25,000	No data
Swaziland	561,000	15,000	56,000
Tanzania	21,777,000	140,000	970,000
Togo	3,032,000	10,000	68,000
Tunisia	3,004,000	No data	No data
Uganda	17,728,000	130,000	1,200,000
Western Sahara	No data	No data	No data
Zambia	6,686,000	95,000	600,000
Zimbabwe	6.024,000	120,000	1,000,000