Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


UN: More Than 300 Children Die Daily of AIDS-Related Causes

Anita Powell

   JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Jane Mabasa was just 9 years old when she
   received what she was sure was a death sentence. She was sick, skinny
   and alone, having been separated from her ill mother and brought to an
   AIDS hospice in Johannesburg.
   That was in 2006. At the time, South Africa's health system was in deep
   denial about the epidemic, and global AIDS fatalities were more than
   three times what they are today. Before she arrived at the Sparrow
   Village AIDS Hospice, more than 7,000 children had died, at the
   alarming rate of nine deaths each week.

   She was sure she would soon join them. In fact, she said, she wanted
   to.

   "I was very sick, to such an extent that, you know, the only thing that
   could give me peace was to die," said Mabasa, who is now 22, in
   treatment and healthy. "So when I was 14 years old, they started
   explaining to me that this is what's happening, and you were born with
   this disease and you have to accept it, and you just have to live with
   it."

   And so, that's what she did.
   

References

   Visible links
   Hidden links:
   1. file://localhost/science-health/global-fund-ceo-pledges-aids-tb-malaria-hit-14-billion-target

.