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Category: News and Politics
On Wednesday at the first-ever plenary session on children at an International AIDS Conference, researchers said efforts to fight HIV among children are lagging in developing nations. Even as governments and donors are helping expand treatment access, including to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmissions, too little money is going to treat children, Dr. Linda Richter, a South African psychologist, said Wednesday at the 17th IAC in Mexico City.
While AIDS orphans are often highlighted in the media, "children orphaned by AIDS are, sadly, only the tip of the iceberg of HIV-affected children," Richter said. Much of the funding for children in AIDS programs went to consultants and overhead, she said, suggesting that the money should instead go directly to the families and communities involved. In some cases, mothers are unable even to afford bus fare to bring their children in for medical care.
In Botswana and Tanzania, studies found that many men are unwilling to pitch in to care for the sick unless no women were available. At least two-thirds of caregivers for the HIV-infected are women, speakers said.
Only 6-10 percent of infected children needing treatment are receiving it, reported Dr. Jim Yong Kim of Harvard University, a member of the Joint Learning Initiative on Children and HIV/AIDS. One reason is that too few infants are being tested, he noted.
The Joint Learning Initiative called on donors and governments to develop new approaches to help children in communities with a high HIV/AIDS burden. An estimated 2 million children under age 15 have HIV, and 15 million children are AIDS orphans, according to UNAIDS. About 1.5 million children have died of AIDS in the past five years, said Michel Sidibe of UNAIDS.
This article is by New York Times writer, Lawrence K. Altman published on August 7, 2008. CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update 08/07/2008.
6:16 PM
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