By John Ikani
A recent report from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed that one child globally was infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) every two minutes in 2020.
The report, which was released to commemorate the 2021 World AIDS Day (WAD), indicates that not less than 300,000 children globally were newly infected with HIV in 2020.
It also shows that 120,000 children died from AIDS-related causes during the same period, or one child every five minutes.
The report went on to note that two in five children living with HIV worldwide, do not know their status, and just over half of children with HIV are receiving Antiretroviral Treatment (ART).
According to the report, in Nigeria, about 30 per cent of AIDS-related deaths in 2020 occurred in children and that only about 3.5 per cent of the 1,629,427 Nigerians receiving ART are children, revealing a big treatment gap.
It lamented that barriers to adequate access to HIV services are longstanding and familiar, including discrimination and gender inequalities.
The report also said in Nigeria, almost eight out of ten new infections occurring in adolescents aged 10-19 occur in adolescent girls, while an estimated 83,000 pregnant women in Nigeria are HIV positive. Only 44 per cent of them are on ART, risking continued mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
The report also revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic is deepening the inequalities that have long driven the HIV epidemic, which makes more children and pregnant women at risk of contacting HIV.
“The HIV epidemic enters its fifth decade amid a global pandemic that has overloaded health care systems and constrained access to life-saving services. Meanwhile, rising poverty, mental health issues, and abuse are increasing children and women’s risk of infection,” UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, said.
She added, “Unless we ramp up efforts to resolve the inequalities driving the HIV epidemic, which are now exacerbated by COVID-19, we may see more children infected with HIV and more children losing their fight against AIDS.”
World AIDS DAY
WAD is celebrated December 1 every year to honour the people who have fallen to the disease, as well as people living with HIV.
It is also celebrated to raise awareness on the disease and the need for people to know their status.
The theme of 2021 WAD is “End inequalities, End AIDS”.
