The Effects of parental loss on the psychosocial wellbeing of AIDS-orphaned children living in AIDS-impacted communities: Does gender matter?

Abstract

Communities in sub-Saharan Africa continue to bear the biggest share of the global HIV/AIDS burden compared to the rest of the world. In 2012, an estimated 23.5 million people – approximately 71% of all people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide – reside in sub-Saharan Africa (UNAIDS, 2013). Although the increase in the access and use of antiretroviral treatment (ART) has reduced the number of people dying from HIV/AIDS related illnesses in sub-Saharan Africa –from 1.8 million in 2005 to 1.2 in 2012 (UNAIDS, 2013), the number of children orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS (defined as those who have lost one or both parents due to HIV/AIDS) remain high because of the high numbers of people living with the disease –many of whom still have no access to quality treatment. Indeed, global statistics indicate that sub-Saharan Africa is home to 90% of all children orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS, 2010). The majority of these orphaned children are between the ages of 10 and 15. One of the sub-Saharan African countries hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Uganda, is estimated to have over 2.7 million orphaned children, with 1.2 million of them directly resulting from HIV/AIDS (UAIS, 2012; UNICEF, 2013).