The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Informal Foster Care Systems: A Case of AIDS Orphans in Rakai Uganda

Uganda is a land locked country located in the great Lake Region of Africa with a
population of about 22 million people, 85 .6% of which is rural based. Majority of the population is dependent on subsistence agriculture as a source of livelihood. With a per capita income of US$ 320, Uganda is still one of the poorest countries in the world (World development report 1998). It is estimated that about 48% of the rural population live below the poverty line, unable to meet their basic needs (changes in poverty and inequalities in Uganda in 1992- 1997) .
The advent of HIV / AIDS in the early eighties in Rakai district, one of the rural districts of Uganda with a population of almost 456,400 inhabitants and an orphan population of more than 35,000, has had a devastating impact not only on the systems of child care but also on the entire social functioning of the local communities. As early as 1982, the national prevalence rate was as high as 30% in high-risk areas. Though in Rakai there has been a reduction in prevalence rates from 24% in the late eighties to abut 10% at present, the adverse effects of the disease and its impact on the community seems to be
still biting hard. HIV/AIDS has led to the death of the most productive age group and in doing so it has reduced production, and left many people sick and bed ridden. The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) - in Rakai alone supports over 3000 PWAS (People Living With Aids) in half of the district and as result exacerbated poverty has weakened the extended family care systems. To date in Uganda, 800,000 people have died of AIDS while 104m are living with HIV in the country.