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World AIDS Day 2010
1st Dec 2009
• An estimated 5.2 million people were living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa in 2008,more than in any other country.
• It is believed that in 2008, over 250,000 South Africans died of AIDS.
• National prevalence is around 11%, with some age groups being particularly affected. Almost one-in-three women aged 25-29, and over a quarter of men aged 30-34, are living with HIV.
• There were an estimated 280,000 under-15s living with HIV in 2007, a figure that almost doubled since 2001.
• There are 1.4 million AIDS orphans in South Africa, and it is estimated that the HIV/AIDS epidemic has created half of the country’s orphans
(Source: http://www.avert.org/aidssouthafrica.htm)
As the number of infected people with HIV/AIDS increases and the illness spreads, the number of people left in its wake also grows. Secondary casualties include orphans, teenagers and elderly carers. These groups become more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS themselves, exacerbating the problem. Part of the work of alleviating suffering caused by HIV/AIDS involves providing support, care and education for those affected in order to minimise their vulnerability to the illness. Bishop Simeon Trust supports a large number of HIV/AIDS community initiated projects in South Africa where the effects of the pandemic have reached extraordinary proportions. To date the Trust has enabled thousands of young people to achieve pre-school and further education; hundreds of children are supported to stay in school when their parents become too ill to work and care for them, or when they are orphaned. Hundreds of families receive home based care support through trained carers who provide palliative care, counselling, food parcels and support with food gardens. Over the last three years alone, more than 20,000 orphans have received care, support and educational opportunities that would not have existed without our local partners using the funds BST supporters work hard to raise year on year.