December 15, 2024 00:33 (IST)

Make this your homepage

Foreign

Pushpa 2 stampede: Allu Arjun walks out of jail, actor's lawyer slams delay in release | Donald Trump intends to end 'inconvenient' and 'very costly' Daylight Saving Time | Suchir Balaji: Indian-origin former OpenAI researcher found dead at US apartment | Bengaluru techie suicide: Karnataka Police issues summons to wife Nikita, her family members | French President Macron appoints centrist leader Francois Bayrou as new Prime Minister | Congress always prioritised personal interest over Constitution: Rajnath Singh | Jaishankar calls attack on Hindus in Bangladesh 'a source of concern' | Allu Arjun arrested over woman's death in stampede during Pushpa 2 premiere show | RBI receives bomb threat in Russian language, case filed | UP teenager kills mother, lives with body for 5 days

Adolescent deaths from AIDS have tripled since 2000: UNICEF study

India Blooms News Service | | Nov 28, 2015, at 02:20 pm

#AIDS # Adolescent deaths # UN study

New York, Nov 28 (Just Earth News/IBNS): The number of adolescent deaths from AIDS has tripled over the last 15 years with 26 new infections occurring every hour, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced on Friday and warned that "it is critical that young people who are HIV-positive have access to treatment, care and support."

“At the same time, those who are HIV-negative must have access to the knowledge and means to help them to stay that way,” said Craig McClure, head of UNICEF's global HIV/AIDS programmes, at a conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, where new data was released by UNICEF.

According to the agency, AIDS is the top cause of death among adolescents (15-19) in Africa and the second leading cause of death among adolescents globally. In sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the highest prevalence, girls are vastly more affected, accounting for 7 in 10 new infections among 15-19 year olds.

“Among HIV-affected populations, adolescents are the only group for which the mortality figures are not decreasing,” according to UNICEF.

UNICEF also said among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa, just over 1 in 10 is tested for HIV.

According to the data in UNICEF's Statistical Update on Children, Adolescents and AIDS, less than half of children under 2 months old are tested for HIV. Only 1 in 3 of the 2.6 million children under the age of 15 living with HIV is on treatment.

UNICEF said the new data shows that most adolescents who die of AIDS-related illnesses acquired HIV when they were infants, 10 to 15 years ago, when fewer pregnant women and mothers living with HIV received antiretroviral medicines to prevent HIV transmission from mother to child.

“These children have survived into their teenage years, sometimes without knowing their HIV status,” UNICEF said.

On a positive note, the new data shows that since 2000, nearly 1.3 million new infections among children have been averted, largely due to advances in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

The new data showed that among adolescents, 26 new infections occur every hour and about half of those living with HIV are in just six countries: South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, India, Mozambique and Tanzania.

“The gains we have made on preventing mother to child transmission are laudable, and to be celebrated,” McClure added, “but immediate investments are needed to get life-saving treatment to children and adolescents who are infected.”

Photo: UNICEF/HIVA201500101/Schermbrucker/www.justearthnews.com

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.