World Aids Day

Too many children and young people are still needlessly infected HIV/Aids and receive little or no treatment, care and support, says a new report. Combating the effects of HIV and Aids on vulnerable families and protecting mothers and children at risk are the main focus of Children and AIDS: The Fourth Stocktaking Report launched to coincide with World Aids Day today.

Preventing the transmission of HIV from mother to child is key to reducing the impact of the pandemic, The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UNAIDS’ report found. The global economic crisis has also been especially hard on those struggling, it said. "In prevention of mother-to-child transmission, 45 per cent of women in need are getting help, compared to 10 per cent just four years ago," said UNICEF Chief of HIV/AIDS and Associate Director of Programmes Jimmy Kolker. "And 19 countries have already reached the target of 80 per cent coverage for prevention of mother-to-child transmission. But of course, that means that 100 countries still haven't reached that target.

"We're going to have to accelerate our efforts if we want to meet that goal of universal access for prevention, treatment, care and support," added Mr. Kolker. Only about a third of pregnant women in Africa get tested for HIV, according to figures from the BBC. And in people who have the virus, 45% get the drugs that will stop HIV being passed to their child during birth or breastfeeding. That figure has improved five-fold in the past few years, but the hope is to wipe out this route of HIV infection by 2015.

The report highlights several success stories from around the globe in treating HIV/Aids including in China, Ghana and Malawi. In Ghana and Malawi, empowerment programs and national action plans for orphans and vulnerable children have greatly mitigated the spread of the disease. In China, the “Four Fees, One Care” Aids policy has led to the development of small grants to women living with HIV–boosting their per capita income 38 percent from 2006 to 2008. But even an HIV-positive diagnosis did not guarantee a child would receive treatment, the study found. A Clinton Foundation study from eight countries found that 53 percent of HIV-positive mothers and their children were lost to follow-up after birth.

The report concluded that money spent on HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment for women and children is paying off, but said it needs to be stepped up and used more efficiently. Programmes should be firmly based on evidence, constantly monitored and evaluated, it said."Children have a right to be born free from HIV," said Michael Sidibé, UNAIDS executive director. "No cost is too high for saving mothers and babies."

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children