Baseline Assessment of Vulnerable Children and HIV Burden Alleviation in Ekiti State, Nigeria

Nigeria is having about 17.5 million orphans and Ekiti State the study area contributes about 70,000. This may increase with the prevalence of HIV from one percent to 1.4 percent in the state. This study uses the Orphans Vulnerable Index and Child Status Index to identify and enrol Vulnerable Children (VC) in the two LGAs of focus in order to identify the needs of VC and care givers. A total number of 402 VC were enrolled out of 433 identified from six political wards in the LGAs. There were 51% male and 49% female, 44% and 56% from Ido Osi and Moba LGAs respectively while the age distribution shows that more than 40% of the VC is within 10-14 years of age. Using the CSI scores, more than 65% of the VC has poor access to adequate nutrition, shelter and health care services while about 63% of the VC has poor access to education, social protection and psychosocial wellness. The findings represent the poor socioeconomic status of Nigerians, though the Ekiti State faired a bit better than states outside of the southern Nigeria Zones. Keywords : Vulnerability score; HIV; community; enrollment.