13.4m children lose parents to AIDS

THE number of children orphaned by AIDS will rise dramatically and urgent action is needed to tackle the escalating global crisis, a report warned yesterday.

The report, Children on the Brink, was released yesterday at the 14th International AIDS Conference in Barcelona. It states that more than 13.4 million children in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America have lost one or both parents to AIDS and that number is expected to almost double to 25 million by 2010.

The report found Africa has the greatest proportion of children who are orphans.