How does AIDS affect the poor?
Rising child mortality rates and falling life expectancies due to AIDS mean that much of the progress made fighting poverty in recent decades is being lost. For example, in the hardest-hit areas, an emerging middle class is being pushed below the poverty line by loss of income and by medical bills. Meanwhile, few of the poorest families can afford to see a doctor. Even fewer can afford AIDS medications. When children lose parents to AIDS, grandparents often become guardians. If the grandparents are gone, older children will likely be forced to drop out of school to look after their younger siblings.
