ABCNews’ ‘Nightline’ Examines Plight of Zambian AIDS Orphans

ABCNews' "Nightline" yesterday examined the plight of AIDS orphans in Zambia, which is a "basket case of a country" that has had increasing rates of poverty and HIV/AIDS in the last decade. An estimated two million Zambians -- approximately one in five adults -- are HIV-positive. By the end of the decade, 25 million children will have been orphaned by AIDS, ABCNews reports. The program profiles a home for AIDS orphans in Zambia run by a Catholic nun who is also a physician. According to ABCNews, HIV/AIDS is removing the social tradition of caregiving through the extended family and villages -- "one of the pillars" of African culture -- as people with HIV/AIDS are being "abandoned" by their families, who "cannot cope any longer." The segment includes comments from UNICEF Resident Representative Dr. Stella Goings (Silvers/Wooten, "Nightline," ABCNews, 1/31). A video excerpt of the program is available online in RealPlayer.