UNICEF Confirms One Child Or Youth Infected With HIV Every 100 Seconds
Approximately in every minute or 40 seconds, a child or a young (under 20) was infected with HIV last year – The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed on Wednesday.Â
UNICEF also reported- the cause of this infection was the lack of prevention efforts and treatment of children that affected the population in large numbers.Â
Surprisingly, nearly 3,20,000 children and adolescents were infected with HIV and 1,11,000 died of AIDS last year, the Xinhua news agency reported.Â
The UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore said that “Children are still getting infected and dying from HIV. This was even before Coronavirus interrupted vital HIV treatment and prevention services, putting countless lives at risk with their carelessness”.Â
UNICEF reported the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the conditions because of the inequalities in access to life-saving HIV services for children, adolescents, and pregnant women everywhere and due to which â…“ of high HIV infected countries could face coronavirus-related disruptions.Â
Fore reported that “Even as the world is struggling with the global pandemic, hundreds of thousands of children continue to suffer the ravages of the AIDS epidemic.Â
Behind all the scenes, data from the Joint UN Programme on HIV (UNAIDS) showed the impact of control measures, lack of personal protective equipment, supply chain disruptions, and the redeployment of healthcare workers on HIV services.Â
It is also noticed that pediatric HIV treatment and viral load testing in some countries has fallen by 50-70% and the new treatment initiation by 25-50% in April and May, coinciding with partial and complete lockdowns to control the novel coronavirus.Â
Alongside, health facility deliveries and maternal treatment were also reported to have reduced by 20-60%, maternal HIV testing and antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation by 25-52%, and infant testing services by around 10%.Â
Though, in recent months, the easing of control measures, and the strategic targeting of children and pregnant women have successfully led to a rebound of services. Still, the challenges remain and the world is quite far from achieving the global 2020 pediatric HIV targets, said UNICEF.
Despite high progress in the decades in fighting against HIV and AIDS last year has been reported as the worst, especially for children.Â
If we talked about the different regions, the Middle East and North Africa recorded 81% pediatric (ART) coverage, only 46% and 32% were covered in Latin America and the Caribbean, West and Central Africa respectively. Whereas, the South Asia Region recorded 76%, Eastern and Southern Africa 58%, and East Asia and the Pacific 50% coverage.Â
These were the coverage recorded about the last year and seems to be a concerning matter. Healthcare organizations need to think about it to control the situation.Â
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