India, which has the largest number of AIDS orphans in comparison to any country in the world,
is facing an accelerating threat from HIV. Despite the availability of anti-retro viral drugs, high
rates of adult deaths, the proportion of children being orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS
remains disproportionately high. Though HIV/AIDS is considered as serious public health
problem, but the disastrous impact it is having on children has not been given adequate attention.
The social costs of HIV/AIDS are more acute on children. The availability of psychosocial services
to children living with HIV/AIDS remains very limited and inadequate to deal with the long-term
psychosocial trauma resulting from caring for dying parents and the grief following their passing
away. The children of HIV positive parents whether they are negative or positive are denied several
fundamental rights. Parents with HIV report feelings of extreme isolation and anxiety concerning
their own and their child’s health and financial burden of illness. As AIDS saps the lives of young
adults, family patterns are reversed. Although children are at formative and resilient stage of life,
policies and programs often overlook them. This paper attempts to address the lack of research
and attention given to this important group by discussing the impact of HIV/AIDS on their lives.
The paper is based on the study conducted in Delhi. The paper also highlights the need of raising
the standard of child care through the development of child care standards which can be applied
in a range of care settings including interim institutional care, community based care, foster care
etc. The paper also identifies the need to place much more emphasis on what children themselves
have to say in research, in policy formulation and the need to have further research on efficacy of
much emphasized community based forms of care.