An estimated 1.1 million HIV infections among children under 15 have
been averted, as new cases declined by over 50 per cent between 2005 and
2013, according to data released by UNICEF ahead of World AIDS Day
which falls December 1, each year.
According to a statement from UNICEF to the Ghana News Agency on
Tuesday in Accra, this extraordinary progress is the result of expanding
the access of millions of pregnant women living with HIV to services
for the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT), including
lifelong HIV treatment that markedly reduces the transmission of the
virus to babies and keeps their mothers alive and well. The statement said, “if we can avert 1.1 million new HIV infections
in children, we can protect every child from HIV – but only if we reach
every child.”
According to the statement, Anthony Lake, Executive Director for
UNICEF said “We must close the gap, and invest more in reaching every
mother, every newborn, every child and every adolescent with HIV
prevention and treatment programmes that can save and improve their
lives.” The sharpest declines took place between 2009 and 2013 in eight
African countries: Malawi (67%); Ethiopia (57%); Zimbabwe (57%);
Botswana (57%); Namibia (57%); Mozambique (57%); South Africa (52%) and
Ghana (50%).
It said the global goal of reducing new HIV infections in children by
90 per cent between 2009 and 2015 is still out of reach. Only 67 per
cent of pregnant women living with HIV in all low- and middle-income
countries received the most effective antiretroviral medicines for PMTCT
in 2013. Disparity in access to treatment is hampering progress. Among people
living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries, adults are much
more likely than children to get antiretroviral therapy (ART). In 2013,
37 per cent of adults aged 15 and older received treatment, compared
with only 23 per cent of children (aged 0-14) – or less than 1 in 4.
AIDS mortality trends for adolescents are also of significant
concern. While all other age groups have experienced a decline of nearly
40 per cent in AIDS-related deaths between 2005 and 2013, adolescents
(aged 10-19) are the only age group in which AIDS-related deaths are not
decreasing.
It said that UNICEF’s Statistical Update on Children, Adolescents and
AIDS provides the most recent analysis of global data on children and
adolescents from birth to 19 years of age
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