17.5 million The number of children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS was 17.5 million in 2008.
UN General Assembly Special Session Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS : By 2005, implement policies and strategies to strengthen capacities to provide a supportive environment for orphans and children affected by AIDS and ensure that they have access to education and to health services on an equal basis with other children.
Worldwide, there were an estimated 17.5 million children who had lost at least one parent to AIDS in 2008. Of this total, nearly 14.1 million children were in sub-Saharan Africa. Many millions more were orphaned due to other causes.
Orphans and vulnerable children are at higher risk of missing out on schooling, live in households with less food security, suffer anxiety and depression, and are in greater danger of exposure to HIV.
