Alarm raised on HIV adolescents
|Published
The White House's North Portico in Washington was decorated with a huge red ribbon on Sunday as the world commemorated World Aids Day. Activists, advocates and people living with the Aids virus marked the day's 25th anniversary. The White House's North Portico in Washington was decorated with a huge red ribbon on Sunday as the world commemorated World Aids Day. Activists, advocates and people living with the Aids virus marked the day's 25th anniversary.
While most children his age are in school, an 8-year-old KwaDukuza (Stanger) boy is forced to stay at home as he battles HIV and cancer.
“All he ever talks about is going back to school. I can see the pain in his eyes when he sees other children going to school,” his devastated father said World Aids Day.
His son is among 2.1 million children and adolescents living with HIV, according to the 2013 Stocktaking Report on Children and Aids, released by the UN Children’s Funds (Unicef) on Friday.
The child, who cannot be named, was in Grade 1 last year when he fell ill and was diagnosed with HIV. As he was struggling with the disease, he was dealt another blow when he learnt he also had cancer and is now undergoing chemo-therapy.
“I just did not know how his little body was going to handle everything. For a whole year, I watched him struggle,” said his father, whose name is also being withheld to protect the child’s identity.
He said he had been traumatised by the news.
The man, who does odd jobs, said there had been many times when he thought his son would not make it.
“But my boy always pulls through. I don’t have the money to buy him all the healthy foods and every day I feel guilty because sometimes I cannot afford to even buy bread for the family,” he said.
The desperate father said that he was terrified of losing his son.
Because neither he nor his wife have ID books, and his son does not have a birth certificate, they are unable to apply for a social grant.
“I know he should be eating healthy foods, but I can’t afford it and it really breaks my heart because I feel like I am failing him,” he said. “He is doing better than he was before because he is now eating, but the days are not the same.”
According to the UN report, 850 000 infants had been saved from HIV between 2005 and last year in low- and- middle-income countries.
However, the report raises the alarm on adolescents, citing the need for increased global and national efforts to address HIV and Aids among this vulnerable age group.
The report also indicated that Aids-related deaths among youngsters aged 10-19 increased by 50 percent between 2005 and last year, rising from 71 000 to 110 000.
This was in stark contrast to progress made in preventing mother-to-child transmission.
Unicef’s executive director, Anthony Lake, said if the right interventions were more widely applied, the number of new infections could be halved among adolescents by 2020.
“It’s a matter of reaching the most vulnerable adolescents with effective programmes urgently,” he said.
Interventions included condoms, antiretroviral treatment, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, voluntary medical male circumcision, communication to change behaviour and targeted approaches for at-risk and marginalised populations, Lake said.
In contrast to adolescents, progress had been impressive in the area of preventing new HIV infections among infants, the report noted.
About 260 000 children were newly infected with HIV last year, compared to 540 000 in 2005.
“These days, even if a pregnant woman is living with HIV, it doesn’t mean her baby must have the same fate, and it doesn’t mean she can’t lead a healthy life,” Lake said.
The executive director of the UN’s programme on HIV/Aids (UNAids), Michel Sidibe, said the report reminded them “that women’s health and well-being should be at the centre of the Aids response”.
Sidibe said the new report also emphasised that for an Aids-free generation to become a reality, more children living with HIV should receive antiretroviral treatment.
Only 34 percent of children living with HIV in low- and- middle-income countries received the treatment they needed last year, compared to 64 percent of adults, Sidibe said.
As a result, an estimated 210 000 children had died from Aids-related illnesses last year.
“The world now has the experience and the tools to achieve an Aids-free generation,” Lake said. “Children should be the first to benefit from our successes in defeating HIV, and the last to suffer when we fall short.”