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NEW YORK, November 26 – No fewer than 320,000 children and adolescents were recently infected with HIV in 2019, according to a UNICEF report published ahead of World AIDS Day, December 1. This represents an infection every 100 seconds worldwide.
In total, the world was home to 2.8 million children and adolescents living with HIV and 1.3 million pregnant women living with HIV in 2019.
The Unicef report highlights regional disparities, as well as the need to step up efforts to prevent and treat children. An estimated 82,000 children under the age of five were infected during pregnancy or childbirth and 68,000 were infected while breastfeeding.
With these figures, UNICEF warns that “children are being left behind in the fight against HIV” and encourages governments to maintain essential health services during the Covid-19 pandemic. Indeed, the pandemic has further exacerbated inequalities and limited access to treatment.
According to Unicef, in some countries, pediatric HIV treatment and viral load testing in children fell by between 50% and 70% in April and May 2020, when many regions were under lockdown measures.
The same is true for starting a new treatment, which decreased by 25 to 50 percent over the same period. It was also reported that the number of births in health care facilities and maternal treatment decreased from 20 to 60%. Numbers that sound the alarm bell in the field of prevention and treatment, even if services have resumed in recent months.
“Even as the world struggles in the midst of an ongoing global pandemic, hundreds of thousands of children continue to suffer the ravages of the HIV epidemic,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director.
“The HIV vaccine does not yet exist. Children continue to be infected at an alarming rate and continue to die of AIDS. This was even before Covid-19 disrupted vital HIV treatment and prevention services, putting countless other lives at risk. “
The United Nations Children’s Fund draws attention to the fact that children in particular often seem to be neglected when it comes to HIV prevention and treatment, even before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The report reveals that just over half of children worldwide had access to lifesaving care in 2019, compared to 62% of HIV-infected adults and 85% of mothers. – AFP-Relaxnews
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