Kids' Aids rate set to soar
11/05/2004 12:24  - (SA)  

HIV/Aids Special Report  Latest HIV/Aids News

Bangkok - The United Nations warned Tuesday that HIV/Aids infections rates among children in Asia were likely to soar unless governments implemented effective prevention strategies.

The warning came as Unicef began a three-day meeting in Bangkok aimed at formulating a plan to reduce the rate of HIV transmission between mothers and babies.

"The rate of increase is extremely rapid in Asia in a number of countries such as India, Indonesia and China, countries with large populations," Robert Bennoun, the regional Unicef advisor on HIV/Aids told AFP.

"With children aged up to 14 there was about a 40 percent increase in those infected by the virus from 1999 to 2001," he said, adding that if more funding and programs were not introduced it would become an enormous problem in the future.

Bennoun said there was also a dramatic rise in the number of children orphaned by Aids.

"In 1999 there were about 150 000 children orphaned by Aids in Asia and in 2003 that figure had risen to about 750 000," he said.

"Vertical transmission (between mother and child) usually occurs at the middle or latter stages of an epidemic and so we have alarming signals at the early stages of Asia's epidemics," he added.

Seeking ways to end stigmatisation

Bennoun said some Asian countries had already shown how infection between mothers and their babies could be slowed.

"Thailand introduced a programme of preventing mother-to-child transmissions about three years ago and Thailand has seen a dramatic reduction in the number of infections because of the national programme," he said.

According to the fund, more than 700 000 children under 15 are infected worldwide with HIV every year, almost all through transmission of the virus from mother to child during pregnancy, delivery or breast feeding.

Apart from greater prevention and testing the meeting will also seek ways to end the stigmatisation of infected children, who are often denied an education or medication, and better access to anti-retroviral drugs for mothers and children.

Governments, non-government organisations and UN agencies from 16 countries are attending the talks including Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

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