OVC Support Toolkit  >  Health and nutrition 

All Children and their Health and Nutrition

This section looks at issues which affect the health and nutrition of all orphans and other vulnerable children. This is distinct from issues affecting children living with HIV/AIDS. More details are available in other sections on nutrition and access to health care.

Key points about health and nutrition are:

1. HIV/AIDS is having severe effects on the health and nutrition of children. In countries with severe HIV/AIDS epidemics, this is seen in increasing rates of under 5 mortality.

2. HIV/AIDS affects the health of children directly and indirectly.

3. It is possible to approach this issue by considering the rights that children have regarding health, and examining how these rights are abused in relation to HIV/AIDS.

4. Ways in which the effects of HIV/AIDS on the health of children can be reduced include effective HIV prevention; health education for children and caregivers; strengthening nutrition and food production; and improving access to health services.

More details on these key points are available in the section on health and nutrition.

A review of a large number of studies concluded that:

• Children born to HIV positive mothers are more likely than others to die before the age of 5
• Children whose mother has died recently have an increased chance of dying themselves
• There is no strong evidence of ill-health among orphans who survive their mother's death
• There is some evidence of greater nutritional deficiencies among orphaned children than among non-orphans

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