Photos

Zambia needs more help to tackle HIV/AIDS

Zambia, like its neighbours in sub-sahara Africa, is grappling to cope with the devastating impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. It is estimated that one in five adults in Zambia is HIV positive and that by 1997, there were already 360,000 children under the age of 15 who had lost their mother or both their parents to AIDS. The number of orphans is likely to increase, as more parents fall ill and die.

A country already crippled by poverty and debt, Zambia is facing overwhelming challenges, as a generation of young people prepare to grow up without the love and support of their parents. Although the majority of orphans are still being absorbed by the extended family, the number of children living or working on the streets is estimated at more than 90,000 and growing.

UNICEF is working with the Zambian Government and non-governmental organizations to tackle the crisis. Efforts are under way to develop policies and strategies to increase the ability to cope with the disease. But preventing the further spread of HIV/AIDS and finding sustainable support for these children requires a dramatic increase in resources and political will from the international community.

These photos were taken by Jeremy Horner, Panos Pictures, on a recent visit to Zambia to coincide with the launch of The Progress of Nations 1999.

Siblings who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Many children experience the pain of watching their parents die one after the other.

Hospital beds are filled with young people suffering from diseases such as tuberculosis.

Graves at the main cemetery in Lusaka, Zambia's capital. Children who are infected with HIV at birth or though breastfeeding are unlikely to reach their fifth birthday. Those who begin their lives free of HIV face the threat of infection as they reach puberty and become sexually active.

A mother buries her child at the main cementry in Lusaka, where there is a constant stream of funerals every day. With 80 per cent of families living below the poverty line, paying for the funerals is a huge financial burden.

A young girl contemplates life without her parents.

This young boy is able to benefit from a UNICEF-supported community school, which provides free primary schooling for a large number of orphans. In the last few years, the number of schools organized and operated by the local community has grown from 50 to more than 250.