Title: Orphanhood, child fostering and the AIDS epidemic in rural Tanzania.

POPLINE Document Number: 127789

Author(s):

Urassa M
Ng'weshemi JZ
Isingo R
Kumogola Y
Boerma JT

Source citation:

In: The socio-demographic impact of AIDS in Africa. Based on the conference organized by the Committee on AIDS of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) and the University of Natal, Durban, South Africa, 3-6 February 1997. Papers. Liege, Belgium, International Union for the Scientific Study of Population [IUSSP], 1997. :17 p.

Abstract:

HIV prevalence is only moderately high in Kisesa ward, Mwanza Region of northwest Tanzania, but overall adult mortality was probably high during the decades before the AIDS epidemic. The authors present data on orphanhood and child care patterns from that rural area of approximately 20,000 inhabitants, of whom more than 90% belong to the Sukuma tribe, the largest ethnic group in Tanzania. Of the 10,015 children identified in the baseline census, 8.9% under age 18 years and 7.6% under age 15 years were orphans. There was a rapid increase in the proportion orphaned by age: from 3.0% under age 5 years to 18.1% at age 15-17 years. The majority of orphans were paternal orphans, although some were maternal orphans or children with no living parent. Among single parent orphans, it was common for the remaining parent to live elsewhere. Child fostering was very common, with 34.2% of all children under age 18 not living with one or both biological parents. The main reasons for the father not being with the child are premarital child (37.1%), divorce (29.1%), and living with another wife (14.8%). The main reasons for the mother not being with the child are divorce (64.5%) and premarital child (11.4%). Work was seldom a reason for the parent not being present. Differences between households, caretakers, AIDS mortality, schooling, and mortality and migration in the study population are discussed.

Keywords:

Tanzania
Research Report
Rural Population
HIV Infections
AIDS
Excess Mortality
Epidemics
Fostering
Orphans and Vulnerable Children
Africa, Eastern
Africa, Sub Saharan
Africa
Developing Countries
Population Characteristics
Demographic Factors
Population
Viral Diseases
Diseases
Mortality
Population Dynamics
Child Rearing
Behavior
Youth
Age Factors
Family and Household