A new report puts India among 12 high burden countries like South Africa, Nigeria and Tanzania that are home to the 2.1 million adolescents living with HIV in 2012. A UNICEF report says that AIDS-related deaths amongst adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 increased by 50% between 2005 and 2012, rising from 71,000 to 110,000 and that many adolescents were unaware that they were infected.
The 2013 Stocktaking Report on Children and AIDS—released on the occasion of World AIDS on Sunday-- says that an estimated 74% of the 2.1 million adolescents live in 12 high burden countries. It says that investments to the tune of USD 5.5 billion by next year will be required to avoid an added two million adolescents, particularly girls, becoming infected by 2020. Investments in 2010 were US$3.8 billion.
"If high-impact interventions are scaled up using an integrated approach, we can halve the number of new infections among adolescents by 2020," said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. "It's a matter of reaching the most vulnerable adolescents with effective programmes - urgently."
The report also found that girls are more vulnerable among adolescents. Of the total of 2.1 million individuals, 1.2 million are females. The total infected adolescent population in South Asia is 130,000 with 51% men and 49% women. Much more attention is needed to prevent and treat HIV during adolescence, so that children remain AIDS-free in the second decade of life. New infections among adolescents could be halved by 2020 by scaling up high-impact interventions and working across sectors. The treatment, care and support needs of children living with HIV change as they grow older and begin to take greater responsibility for their own health. But services generally do not keep pace with or cater to their needs. This is particularly true for marginalized adolescents males who have sex with males, adolescents who inject drugs and sexually exploited adolescents despite the disproportionately high prevalence of HIV among them.
Experts have advised a combination of high-impact interventions including condoms, antiretroviral treatment, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, voluntary medical male circumcision, communications for behaviour change, and targeted approaches for at-risk and marginalized populations. This is in addition to investments in other sectors such as education, social protection and welfare, and strengthening health systems.
‘India among 12 nations with most HIV+ adolescents’ - The Times of India
The 2013 Stocktaking Report on Children and AIDS—released on the occasion of World AIDS on Sunday-- says that an estimated 74% of the 2.1 million adolescents live in 12 high burden countries. It says that investments to the tune of USD 5.5 billion by next year will be required to avoid an added two million adolescents, particularly girls, becoming infected by 2020. Investments in 2010 were US$3.8 billion.
"If high-impact interventions are scaled up using an integrated approach, we can halve the number of new infections among adolescents by 2020," said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. "It's a matter of reaching the most vulnerable adolescents with effective programmes - urgently."
The report also found that girls are more vulnerable among adolescents. Of the total of 2.1 million individuals, 1.2 million are females. The total infected adolescent population in South Asia is 130,000 with 51% men and 49% women. Much more attention is needed to prevent and treat HIV during adolescence, so that children remain AIDS-free in the second decade of life. New infections among adolescents could be halved by 2020 by scaling up high-impact interventions and working across sectors. The treatment, care and support needs of children living with HIV change as they grow older and begin to take greater responsibility for their own health. But services generally do not keep pace with or cater to their needs. This is particularly true for marginalized adolescents males who have sex with males, adolescents who inject drugs and sexually exploited adolescents despite the disproportionately high prevalence of HIV among them.
Experts have advised a combination of high-impact interventions including condoms, antiretroviral treatment, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, voluntary medical male circumcision, communications for behaviour change, and targeted approaches for at-risk and marginalized populations. This is in addition to investments in other sectors such as education, social protection and welfare, and strengthening health systems.
‘India among 12 nations with most HIV+ adolescents’ - The Times of India
