Mr. Cherpitel visited several Red Cross home care projects in both countries. Mr. Cherpitel travelled to southern Africa to gain a better understanding of Red Cross home care programmes for AIDS sufferers and their families, to see the work of volunteers in the field in this area, and to discuss possible partnership strategies with government officials, private industry and other organizations involved in the fight to stop the spread of the disease. Within two weeks, the Federation and the National Societies will identify districts where they can set up programmes or enlarge existing ones. We have some two million volunteers in Africa, but needs are so great that hundreds of thousands more will be needed to effectively combat the spread of HIV at the community level. The action plans will also include community care for orphans - there are 600,000 orphans in Zimbabwe today and it is estimated there will be one million orphans under 15 in South Africa by the end of 2002.
Education is also a priority for governments.
Teaching children how to avoid getting infected must begin at an early age in schools, since according to regional statistics in southern Africa, children become sexually active on the average at 11 ears old, some as young as 8 or 9.