UNICEF Decries Death Of Children From AIDS-Related Causes

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has disclosed that more than 47 children and adolescents died every day from AIDS-related causes in 2018 in Nigeria, according to a global snapshot on children, HIV and AIDS released by UNICEF in advance of World AIDS Day.
In a statement made available to press yesterday explained that Low access to antiretroviral treatment and limited prevention efforts are the leading causes for these deaths, with only 54 per cent of children aged 0-14 living with HIV globally in 2018 – or 790,000 children – receiving lifesaving antiretroviral therapy.
“Progress has been made in the battle against HIV and AIDS – but we must do more, especially when it comes to Nigerian children and adolescents,” said UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative Peter Hawkins.
“Testing and treating children and adolescents is a matter of life and death – and we must choose life.” According to the latest global data, regional disparities in access to treatment among children living with HIV is very high – with West and Central Africa faring worst.
Access is highest in South Asia, at 91 per cent, followed by the Middle East and North Africa (73 per cent), Eastern and Southern Africa (61 percent), East Asia and the Pacific (61 percent), Latin America and the Caribbean (46 percent) and West and Central Africa (28 percent).
Access to treatment by children living with HIV in Nigeria is only 35 per cent. Mothers’ access to antiretroviral therapy to prevent the transmission of the virus to their babies has increased globally, however, reaching 82 per cent, up from 44 per cent less than 10 years ago.
This figure in Nigeria is 44 per cent, up from 22 percent in 2009.