Earnshaw S, Njongwe P Z, English B, Worku Z
School of Health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
East Afr J Public Health. 2009 Apr;6(1):95-101. doi: 10.4314/eajph.v6i1.45756.
The focus of the study reported on here was to determine the health and living conditions of children living in child-headed households (CHHs) in Swaziland, where it is estimated that approximately 10-15 percent of the entire population will be orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC) by 2010 and that one in ten households in the country today are child-headed because of the impact of HIV and AIDS.
The population comprised 41 heads of household, caring for 97 siblings among them. Data was collected in a single period between the months of February and April 2007 using the convenience sampling method and employing a semi-structured questionnaire as the data-collection instrument.
Children were generally physically healthy, despite not receiving adequate food or balanced diets. Most had access to health facilities or at least to sources of medication. Education assistance exists but is limited and abuse was generally not reported for fear of reprisal. Children generally relied on family and community networks for assistance, but the strain this put on those offering assistance meant that the assistance was not always consistent. Some children also relied on NGOs for food donations, but many of the children were unaware of the services offered by these organisations.
There is a dearth of information on adolescents in Swaziland, the primary caregivers in most child-headed households. Children are not actively consulted and encouraged to participate in helping to solve the problems they are affected by. There is a lack of coordination between caregiver organisations, leading to ineffective and inefficient service provision for this particular vulnerable group.
本文所报道研究的重点是确定斯威士兰由儿童当家的家庭（CHH）中儿童的健康和生活状况。据估计，到2010年，该国全部人口中约10% - 15%将成为孤儿和其他弱势儿童（OVC），且由于艾滋病毒和艾滋病的影响，如今该国十分之一的家庭由儿童当家。
研究对象包括41名户主，他们共照顾97名兄弟姐妹。2007年2月至4月期间，采用便利抽样法，使用半结构化问卷作为数据收集工具收集数据。
尽管儿童没有得到充足的食物或均衡饮食，但总体身体健康。大多数儿童能够获得医疗设施或至少能获得药品来源。存在教育援助，但有限，且因担心遭到报复，虐待情况一般未被举报。儿童通常依靠家庭和社区网络获得援助，但这给提供援助者带来的压力意味着援助并非始终持续。一些儿童还依靠非政府组织提供食品捐赠，但许多儿童并不知晓这些组织提供的服务。
关于斯威士兰青少年（大多数儿童当家家庭中的主要照料者）的信息匮乏。儿童未被积极征求意见并鼓励参与解决他们所受影响的问题。照料者组织之间缺乏协调，导致为这一特殊弱势群体提供的服务低效且无效。
