The study focuses on the welfare of orphans and other vulnerable children in relation to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa. Specifically, it seeks answers to a critical question: what are the consequences of parental deaths from AIDS for the welfare of AIDS orphans and of other children in the households that care for orphans? At the same time, the study adopts the logic of integrated research and management in order to ensure that the research process improves capacity for Africa-based responses to the pandemic and the research results are used to promote coherent multisectoral responses to the pandemic. The study is based on a field trial to be conducted in the environs of Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The field trial will follow a cohort of children drawn from schools in the area over a period of three years. The key research questions ask what is the impact of AIDS orphans on: 1) the economic welfare of children in orphan households, including the orphans and the other children in the household; 2) the health of orphans and other children in orphan households; and 3) the educational attainment of orphans and other children in orphan households. These questions will allow the research team to relate health-related and socio-economic conditions, which is essential in view of the diverse effects of HIV/AIDS on individuals and society. The field trial as a whole will be supported by a Participatory Research process in order to establish an integrated research and management framework. A necessary consultation exercise prior to initiation of the field trial, for example, will be designed also to lay the foundations for systematic engagement of local residents and officials with the study such that, after five years, a practical multisectoral-based orphan care and support program can be implemented. With regard to capacity building, the study will assist HEARD to entrench field trial expertise as a core competency and to set a benchmark for the design and implementation of inter-disciplinary research for the management of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Linkages strengthened will be those that support elaboration of a multisectoral response to the pandemic and management interventions based on sound scientific research.
