UN REVEALS PROGRESS IN LOWERING HIV INFECTIONS AMONG CHILDREN IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

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From: UNNews <UNNews@un.org>
Date: 25 Jun 2013 12:00:00 -0400
Subject: UN REVEALS PROGRESS IN LOWERING HIV INFECTIONS AMONG CHILDREN
IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
To: news11@ny-mail-p-lb-028.ptc.un.org

UN REVEALS PROGRESS IN LOWERING HIV INFECTIONS AMONG CHILDREN IN
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICANew York, Jun 25 2013 12:00PMNew HIV infections
among children have been reduced by 50 per cent or more in seven
countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the United Nations agency
spearheading the global AIDS response
<"http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/pressreleaseandstatementarchive/2013/june/20130625prglobalplan/">said
today.

Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, and Zambia
have reduced new HIV infections among children by half since 2009,
while Tanzania and Zimbabwe are also making substantial progress.

This is according to the latest progress
<"http://www.unaids.org/en/media/unaids/contentassets/documents/unaidspublication/2013/20130625_progress_global_plan_en.pdf">report
on the Global Plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among
children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive (Global Plan), which
was launched in July 2011 at the UN General Assembly High-level
Meeting on AIDS.

The Plan has two main targets for 2015: a 90 per cent reduction in the
number of children newly infected with HIV and a 50 per cent reduction
in the number of AIDS-related maternal deaths.

It focuses on the 22 countries which account for 90 per cent of new
HIV infections among children. The current report presents the
progress made by the 21 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and some of
the challenges they face in meeting the agreed targets for 2015. Data
from India was not available at the time the report was written

Overall, the report shows that there were 130,000 fewer new HIV
infections among children across the 21 countries in sub-Saharan
Africa – a drop of 38 per cent since 2009.

"The progress in the majority of countries is a strong signal that
with focused efforts, every child can be born free from HIV," said
Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of the Joint UN Programme on
HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), which spearheaded the Global Plan initiative along
with the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
(PEPFAR).

"But progress has stalled in some countries with high numbers of new
HIV infections. We need to find out why and remove the bottlenecks
which are preventing scale-up," he added.

UNAIDS noted in a news release that Ghana showed the greatest decline
in the rate of new infections among children since 2009 (76 per cent),
followed by South Africa (63 per cent).

However, the pace of decline in some of the Global Plan priority
countries has been slow and in Angola, new HIV infections have even
increased.

New infections among children in Nigeria, which has the largest number
of children acquiring HIV (nearly 60,000 new HIV infections among
children in 2012), remained largely unchanged since 2009. Without
urgent action in Nigeria, the global target for 2015 may not be
reached, the report warns.

The report also notes that more pregnant women living with HIV were
receiving antiretroviral medicines to prevent HIV from being
transmitted to their children and for their own health in 2012 than in
2009, with coverage levels exceeding 75 per cent in many countries.

Increased coverage has reduced HIV transmission rates from mother to
child in most countries. Botswana and South Africa have reduced
transmission rates to 5 per cent or below.

"We have the tools required to reach the Global Plan's goals, and
recent data show that we are moving ever closer to their realization,"
said Ambassador Eric P. Goosby, US Global AIDS Coordinator.

"This month, as US Secretary of State John Kerry announced, the one
millionth baby will be born HIV-free due to PEPFAR's support. Now, we
must all continue working together to see the day when no children are
born with HIV, which is within our reach," he added.

At the same time, the report also shows that only half of all
breastfeeding women living with HIV or their children receive
antiretroviral medicines to prevent transmission of HIV. It outlines
that breastfeeding is critical to ensuring child survival and strongly
emphasizes the urgent need to provide antiretroviral therapy during
the breastfeeding period.

More than half of the children eligible for treatment in South Africa
and Swaziland now have access. Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi,
Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe have doubled the numbers
of children accessing treatment from 2009 to 2012.

While the report outlines that the number of children requiring HIV
treatment will reduce as new HIV infections decline, urgent steps need
to be taken to improve early diagnosis of HIV in children and ensure
timely access to antiretroviral treatment.

Also, the number of pregnant women living with HIV receiving
antiretroviral therapy for their own health has increased since 2009,
the report adds. In Botswana, Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa,
Swaziland, and Zambia, more than 75 per cent of the pregnant women
eligible receive antiretroviral therapy and more than 50 per cent in
Kenya, Lesotho, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.Jun 25 2013 12:00PM
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