by Kingseyi Wed Jul 25, 2018 1:20 pmLondon – Teenagers, and particularly girls, are
bearing the brunt of the global AIDS epidemic
with around 30 adolescents becoming infected
with HIV every hour, according to a
report by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
UNICEF said out of those 30 new infections each
hour among 15 to 19 year-olds in 2017, around
20 or two-thirds – were in girls.
This, UNICEF said, represents a “crisis of health
as well as a crisis of agency”.
While there has been substantial progress in the
fight against AIDS in the last two decades, the
failure to prevent so many new infections among
children and teenagers is slowing this down, the
report said.
the agency said the epidemic’s spread among
adolescent girls is being fuelled by early sex,
including with older men, forced sex,
powerlessness in negotiating around sex,
poverty and lack of access to confidential
counselling and testing services.
“In most countries, women and girls lack access
to information, to services, or even just the
power to say no to unsafe sex,” said Henrietta
Fore, UNICEF’s executive director.
“HIV thrives among the most vulnerable and
marginalized, leaving teenage girls at the centre
of the crisis.”
UNICEF’s report, presented on Wednesday at an
AIDS conference in Amsterdam, said that
130,000 children aged 19 and under died from
AIDS in 2018, while 430,000 – almost 50 an
hour – were newly infected.
Adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19
account for almost two thirds of the three
million
under-19 year-olds living with HIV.
And while AIDS-related deaths among all other
age groups have been falling since 2010, those
among older adolescents aged 15 to 19 have
seen no reduction.
Angelique Kidjo, a UNICEF goodwill ambassador
who contributed to the report, said economic
empowerment and education were crucial.
“We need to make girls and women secure
enough economically that they don’t have to
turn to sex work,” she said.
“We need to make sure they have the right
information about how HIV is transmitted and
how to protect themselves.”
UNAIDS says the fight against the AIDS
epidemic, in which 37 million people worldwide
are infected with the incurable HIV virus – is at
a “precarious point”, with deaths falling,
treatment rates rising, but rates of new HIV
infections stubbornly high. (Reuters/NAN)
bearing the brunt of the global AIDS epidemic
with around 30 adolescents becoming infected
with HIV every hour, according to a
report by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
UNICEF said out of those 30 new infections each
hour among 15 to 19 year-olds in 2017, around
20 or two-thirds – were in girls.
This, UNICEF said, represents a “crisis of health
as well as a crisis of agency”.
While there has been substantial progress in the
fight against AIDS in the last two decades, the
failure to prevent so many new infections among
children and teenagers is slowing this down, the
report said.
the agency said the epidemic’s spread among
adolescent girls is being fuelled by early sex,
including with older men, forced sex,
powerlessness in negotiating around sex,
poverty and lack of access to confidential
counselling and testing services.
“In most countries, women and girls lack access
to information, to services, or even just the
power to say no to unsafe sex,” said Henrietta
Fore, UNICEF’s executive director.
“HIV thrives among the most vulnerable and
marginalized, leaving teenage girls at the centre
of the crisis.”
UNICEF’s report, presented on Wednesday at an
AIDS conference in Amsterdam, said that
130,000 children aged 19 and under died from
AIDS in 2018, while 430,000 – almost 50 an
hour – were newly infected.
Adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19
account for almost two thirds of the three
million
under-19 year-olds living with HIV.
And while AIDS-related deaths among all other
age groups have been falling since 2010, those
among older adolescents aged 15 to 19 have
seen no reduction.
Angelique Kidjo, a UNICEF goodwill ambassador
who contributed to the report, said economic
empowerment and education were crucial.
“We need to make girls and women secure
enough economically that they don’t have to
turn to sex work,” she said.
“We need to make sure they have the right
information about how HIV is transmitted and
how to protect themselves.”
UNAIDS says the fight against the AIDS
epidemic, in which 37 million people worldwide
are infected with the incurable HIV virus – is at
a “precarious point”, with deaths falling,
treatment rates rising, but rates of new HIV
infections stubbornly high. (Reuters/NAN)
