In many countries with a high HIV prevalence, at least 95 per cent of children born to mothers living with HIV remain HIV-uninfected. This is due to the success of wide-scale provision of antiretroviral therapy to mothers with HIV to prevent transmission to their children during pregnancy, labour or breastfeeding.

Children born to mothers with HIV are known as HIV-exposed. While many children who are HIV-exposed and also HIV-uninfected are growing and developing well, some face greater risks.

They are more likely to be hospitalised with severe infections when they are infants. They are also at higher risk of dying before their second birthday. And the risks are even higher when babies who are HIV-exposed and uninfected are born early, with low weight at birth, or to mothers with severe HIV disease.

This is why it’s important to know as much as possible about this population of children, how many there are and where they are in the world.

Every year the United Nations provides key estimates related to the HIV epidemic. These usually include the number of people living with HIV, the number of new infections and the number of people receiving treatment. In 2018 for the first time, estimates for children aged 0-14 years who were HIV-exposed and uninfected were included.

We used the most recent UNAIDS estimates, published in July 2019, to calculate the share of each country in the global total of children who are HIV-exposed and uninfected. These estimates allow us to report on changes in the size of this population and trends over time, between 2000 and 2018. And we calculated the percentage of children who are HIV-exposed uninfected in countries with the highest HIV burden.

What we found

In 2018 there were 14.8 million children who were HIV-exposed and uninfected around the world. This population has more than doubled from 6.7 million in 2000.

Ninety per cent of all these children are from sub-Saharan Africa. Strikingly, half of all children who are HIV-exposed and uninfected come from just five countries — South Africa, Uganda, Mozambique, Tanzania and Nigeria.

South Africa alone accounts for 3.5 million or 24 per cent of all children who are HIV-exposed and uninfected.

Equally alarming is that in four southern African countries more than 20 per cent, or at least one in every five children, is HIV-exposed and uninfected — Eswatini (32 per cent), Botswana (27 per cent), South Africa (22 per cent) and Lesotho (21 per cent).

The substantial global population of children who are HIV-exposed and HIV-uninfected needs a coordinated strategy to reduce HIV exposure in children and to ensure their optimal health and wellbeing. Informed by these estimates, we propose a coordinated global strategy for improving their health outcomes.

This strategy requires collaboration from governments and their partners, including multilateral organisations, researchers and funders. It must be built on a strong foundation of dialogue with families and communities affected by HIV, who have seldom been consulted on the wellbeing of their children when they are HIV-uninfected.

Our proposed strategy has three pillars:

First, to reduce the number of adolescent girls and women newly infected with HIV and to reduce unintended pregnancies in adolescent girls and women living with HIV. The number of children who are HIV-exposed is determined by the number of pregnant women living with HIV, which has remained unchanged at 1.3 million globally every year since 2000.

Second, to keep mothers with HIV on lifelong antiretroviral therapy to ensure they stay well and don’t transmit HIV during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Countries with a high burden of HIV also need systems to continually evaluate the safety of this therapy.

Third, to ensure that research covers the geographical regions that are most affected. Exposure to HIV and to antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy has been well researched in high-income countries. But their HIV prevalence is low and other factors very different from the low- and middle-income countries where most of the children exposed to HIV are found. For instance, child mortality, preterm birth, infectious diseases and malnutrition occur far more often in low- and middle-income countries.

There are large numbers of children who are HIV-exposed and HIV-uninfected in southern Africa – and they are not surviving and thriving as well as children born to women without HIV. There is an urgent need in this region to find solutions enabling all children to reach their developmental potential and contribute fully to their communities.

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A source from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that in the last days of 2019, at the request of the Military-Civil Cooperation Coordination Agency (CIMIC) of Unity Military Command, Vietnam Second Level Hospital sent a staff. sets, medical personnel participated in the team’s overall Mission peacekeeping UN in Bentiu (UNMISS – Bentiu) perform counseling and testing for HIV / AIDS for the people of South Sudan in the refugee Crash in Bentiu (POC).

Here, the hospital staff participated in propagandizing to local people about the dangers of HIV / AIDS, how to prevent themselves, how to use some preventive measures. such as using condoms, … and organizing HIV / AIDS screening tests for people here.

The HIV / AIDS pandemic is one of the dangers for countries. Experts believe that if Africa now does not take appropriate measures to cope with the AIDS pandemic, 80 million people will die from AIDS and 90 million people within the next 20 years. 1 in 10 of the population) is infected.

By then, there will be about 25 million people will turn to HIV stage. The United Nations is now calling for HIV / AIDS campaigns and investments of around US $ 200 billion to prevent the disease from spreading.

The involvement of Vietnam Secondary Hospital was recognized and highly appreciated by the Event Organizing Committee, the Military – Civil Cooperation Coordination Agency of the Unity Military Headquarters.

Captain Wilaipan, the officer in charge of the Unity District’s Military and People’s Coordination activities, said that the professionalism, attitude, and qualifications of Vietnamese physicians and doctors made the success of the meeting. propaganda.

Dr. Joseph Puok, a member of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), sent a letter of thanks to the Vietnamese doctors: “I am very impressed by your working style during World Day celebrations. AIDS prevention and professionalism in your team work. We look forward to working with you in many other fields in the near future. Thanks again to my colleagues so much for the love of humanity. ”

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DURBAN – The uMkhanyakude District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal is celebrating after reaching its target set by the United Nations (UN) in the fight against HIV and Aids.

The target was set by the joint United Nations Programme on HIV and Aids in 2013.

It stipulates that by 2020, 90% of people infected with HIV should know their status. Around 90% of those who test positive should receive treatment, while 90% of those on antiretrovirals should have viral suppression.

The uMkhanyakude District is one of the poorest and underdeveloped regions in South Africa.

And through the help of the government and foreign aid, it has become the third area to achieve the 90-90-90 goals set by the United Nations.

The first two were the uMzinyathi and Ugu districts, also in KwaZulu-Natal.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on Thursday said this achievement was the result of political will, strategic partnerships and use of modern technology.

“This is a testament that government, working together with everyone, can achieve the vision of a healthy society.”

He said by achieving the UN’s 90-90-90 targets, the uMkhanyakude district was on its way to defeating HIV and Aids.

“This means 90% of the people in uMkhanyakude have tested and know their status, 90% are on ARVs and 90% are virally suppressed and therefore cannot transmit the virus to others.”

Teenage girls and young women account for most of the new HIV infections.

Mkhize said through government interventions, strategic partnerships with communities and foreign aid, the district was headed towards a brighter future.

On Friday when he visits the area, the minister hopes to promote the national health insurance in the region.

KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu is also expected there.

Almost eight million people are living with HIV and Aids in South Africa and KwaZulu-Natal has the highest prevalence, accounting for around 24% of that figure.

Mkhize hopes the whole country will reach the 90-90-90 target by the end of next year.

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LAHORE: Inadequate mea­sures for curtailing HIV/AIDs have brought embarrassment to Pakistan as the United Nations has put it on the list of 11 countries which have the highest prevalence of the disease — 13 per cent — in its latest report.

It is the highest ratio of HIV prevalence the country has touched during the last decade, raising concerns among global health partners.

The UNAIDS-2019 analysis revealed that the world is on track to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030, but Pakistan is among the countries where ratio of new AIDs cases saw a sharp increase. The report termed it a blow to global efforts to curtail the disease.

It stated that the average HIV incidence per 1000 people in Pakistan was 0.08 in 2010, which had risen to 0.11 last year.

The situation has aggravated despite grant of “massive funding” by international health partners to curtail HIV.

The report, which has already been communicated to Islamabad, stated that the number of people living with HIV in the country stood at 160,000 last year. The number was 120,000 in 2015 and 67,000 in 2010.

The number of people living with HIV under 14 years of age was 5,500 in 2018, 4,000 in 2015 and 1,800 in 2010, according to the report.

The ratio also witnessed an increase in the number of females aged 15 and above living with HIV. The numbers were 19,000 in 2010, 37,000 in 2015 and 48,000 last year.

The number of males aged 15 and above living with HIV stood at 110,000 last year, compared to 84,000 in 2015 and 46,000 in 2010.

The UNAIDS report also dwelt on mortality ratio because of this deadly disease as a good number of patients living with HIV remained untraced and untreated. It stated that the average annual death ratio of HIV patients was 6400 in 2018, 4700 in 2015 and 1400 in 2010.

The report put the number of fresh HIV infection cases for all age groups at 2200 for 2018, 18,000 for 2015 and 14000 for 2010.

The UNAIDS analysis recorded HIV prevalence at 3.8pc among sex workers in 2018, 3.7pc among gay men, 21pc among drug addicts and 5.5pc for transgender people.

It revealed 45pc of sex workers were aware of their HIV status, 35.1pc use condom and 0.7pc had access to an HIV prevention programme.

Forty-four per cent of gay men know their HIV status, 22.4pc use condom and 1.2pc had access to an HIV prevention porgramme.

Among drug addicts, 39.3pc were aware of their HIV status, 15.3pc use condom and 1.6pc were benefiting from any HIV prevention programme.

The situation was not satisfactory in respect of transgender people as 69.1pc know their HIV status, 24pc use condom and only 1.1pc had access to an HIV prevention programme.

According to the report, 18pc children and eight per cent women living with HIV who know their status had undergone tests and treatment last year.

The percentage of pregnant women living with HIV who have access to antiretroviral medicines was reported at 10pc last year.

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