Among HIV-affected populations, AIDS is now the leading cause of death for African teenagers and the second most common killer for adolescents across the globe, the United Nations children’s agency said Friday.
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“Countries should waste no time and take up new World Health Organization guidelines that call for all people living with HIV to be offered immediate treatment”, Sharonann Lynch, HIV and tuberculosis adviser for MSF’s Access Campaign, said. Of the 2.6 million HIV-positive children, only one in three has access to HIV treatment. For the age group of 15 to 19, the report estimated that there are 26 new infections every hour.
The numbers of HIV carriers, AIDS patients and AIDS-related deaths in Vietnam have decreased for the eighth consecutive year in 2015 thanks to great effort in HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care.
More than 142,000 people were diagnosed with HIV in Europe in 2014, the highest number of new infections since the 1980s.
ECDC spokeswoman Caroline Daamen said “eastern Europe” referred to the eastern part of WHO’s European Region, where the organisations said the number of new HIV cases had more than doubled in the past decade.
Less than half of children under two months old are tested for HIV infection. These children became adolescent, sometimes without knowing their HIV status. Seven in 10 new cases identified in 15 to 19 year olds are among girls.
Mr McArdle said that the Palaszczuk Government should also continue with the next steps planned by the LNP to reduce HIV transmission.
“Bold actions will be required to achieve the Sustainable Development Agenda’s target of ending AIDS by 2030, with the health sector playing a central role”, WHO Southeast Asia regional director Poonam Khetrapal Singh said on Monday, in a statement ahead of World AIDS Day, which falls on Tuesday. This has translated into a 60 per cent reduction in AIDS-related deaths among children under 4 years of age since 2000.
Preventing HIV transmission and addressing the challenges of living with AIDS are some of the topics Francis is expected to discuss Saturday with young people in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, on the second leg of his trip to Africa.
“The gains we have made on preventing mother-to-child transmission are laudable and to be celebrated”, McClure said.
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She said no one was talking to teenagers about AIDS, so she was speaking out.
