Some 1,000 children are infected with HIV every day, most of them through transmission of the virus at birth.
HIV and AIDS are having a devastating impact upon the world’s children, depriving them of parental care and protection and denying them their right to a childhood. In 2009, there were an estimated 16.6 million children worldwide who had lost one or both parents to AIDS. These children are often forced to replace parents as head of the household and care for younger siblings. They are often denied their right to an education, as they are forced to work to support themselves and their family.
A disease of the young
Millions of young people also face the risk of contracting HIV themselves - HIV is increasingly concentrated among young people, particularly girls. In 2010, there were 390,000 children under the age of 15 infected with HIV, and in 2008 young people aged 15 to 24 accounted for around 40 per cent of all new adult HIV infections worldwide.
But HIV is both preventable and treatable. Since October 2005, UNICEF's global Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS campaign has called on communities, governments and businesses everywhere to transform children's lives by taking action on HIV and AIDS. The campaign focuses on:
Visit the global Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS campaign website.
Much has been achieved
With your donations, between 2005 and 2010, our Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS campaign helped:
- decrease the number of children infected with HIV from approximately 500,000 to 370,000 per year
- increase the number of HIV-positive children on life-saving treatment from less than 50,000 to more 350,000
- reduce AIDS-related deaths among children under 15 by 19 per cent.
Despite these achievements, the protection, prevention, treatment and support for children affected by HIV and AIDS remains tragically insufficient.
