Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : February 3, 2023 12:02 PM IST
In a meeting recently hosted by the United Republic of Tanzania, leaders from 12 African countries with high HIV burdens agreed to work together to end AIDS in children by 2030. According to WHO, an estimated 38.4 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2021, two thirds of these patients were from the WHO African Region. The Alliance has laid out their action plans to ensure that all children with HIV have access to life saving treatment and that mothers living with HIV have babies free from HIV.
Their action plans include finding and caring for infants and children living with HIV, addressing the treatment gap for pregnant and breastfeeding women with HIV to eliminate vertical transmission, and tackling barriers that hinder access to access to life saving treatment and services.
The 12 countries which have joined the alliance to end AIDS in children by 2030 include: Angola, Cameroon, C te d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, the United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Did you know a child dies from AIDS-related causes every five minutes? Yes, it's true.
As per WHO estimates, 1.5 million people newly acquired HIV infections in 2021, including 160 000 children. In the same year, 650 000 people died from HIV-related causes. Children accounts for only 4 per cent of the total number of people living with HIV, yet 15 per cent of all AIDS-related deaths were reported in children.
Only half of children living with HIV are on life-saving treatment. In comparison, three quarters of adults living with HIV are receiving antiretrovirals, according to WHO estimates.
HIV can pass from a mother to child during pregnancy or while breastfeeding. This vertical transmission of HIV can be interrupted with prompt HIV treatment for pregnant women living with HIV or pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for mothers at risk of HIV infection.
