Over 38 million people live with HIV/AIDS across the world. Every minute of the day, 4 peopld die of AIDS-related causes, and 5 people are newly infected. It’s a battle that is really hard to win.
This would be a horrific problem, even if it only impacted adults, but it doesn’t. Worldwide, over 2.3 million children under 15 live with HIV/AIDS. What’s the nearest large city to you? Does this equal the population of that city? What portion? And every day, more than 1000 children are newly infected with HIV/AIDS. [UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children 2008, 21.]
In addition, at least 15 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS, most in sub-Saharan Africa. It is estimated that a child loses a parent to AIDS-related causes every 14 seconds. By 2010, the number of children orphaned by AIDS globally is expected to exceed 25 million. [UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children 2008, 21.] [Page 83]
Source: Sylvia Foth, Daddy Are We There Yet? (A global check-in on the world of mission and kids), Kidzana Ministries, Mukilteo, 2009
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