SAfrica: Seven out of 100 children in two to nine years age group HIV positive.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

May

Cape Town: Almost seven out of every hundred children in South Africa in the two to nine years age group are infected with HIV, according to a newly-released study.

The study, funded by the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and the Mandela Foundation, is based on the first national survey of HIV risk in South African youngsters.

It shows a prevalence of 6.7 per cent among children in the two to nine age group, and 4.7 per cent in the 10 to 14 age group.

An HIV/AIDS programme director at the Human Sciences Research Council, Dr Olive Shisana, said the risk of the disease among children …