CEBU CITY, 01 December 2006 — About two of every hundred Filipinos infected by the human immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV) are children, according to the AIDS registry released by the Department of Health.
Of almost 11,200 estimated HIV cases, about 558 are children with ages ranging from 0 to 18 years old, said Dr. Aye Aye Mon, head of UNICEF’s HIV/AIDS program, citing data from the DOH.
“There is a continuous uptrend in HIV cases especially in the recent months. But the good thing is that, the Philippines still has low prevalence as compared with other ASEAN countries. It still has the opportunity to put emphasis to prevent primary infection especially among young people and we must take advantage of this opportunity,” she said in a press conference in Cebu City.
UNICEF launched Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS here as part of its celebration for the World AIDS Day today. Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS is a global campaign that provides a platform for national programs to place children and young people at the core of the fight against the disease.
This global campaign seeks to prevent mother-to-child transmission by 80 percent; provide antiretroviral treatment to 80 percent of children living with the virus; reduce the percentage of HIV infection among young people by 25 percent; and reach 80 percent of children in need by 2010.
According to Collin Davis, UNICEF’s senior programme officer, around 40 percent of countries with generalized epidemics were found to have no national policy to provide support for children orphaned or made vulnerable to AIDS. As a result, the target of averting 20 percent of HIV infections among children in 2005 was not reached.
Globally, he said, there are nearly 1,800 new HIV infections among children under 15 mostly from mother-to-child transmission every day. Despite this, only 10 percent of pregnant women receive services to prevent HIV transmission to their infants.
The disease is also claiming the lives of about 1,400 children worldwilde from this age group daily.
And still, millions of children are missing their childhood to HIV and AIDS as they fail school, are orphaned by the disease, made vulnerable to the virus, and receive little help from institutions.
"AIDS is redefining the meaning of childhood for millions, depriving them of care, love and support of parents and their environment. The world must decisively act now and ensure that the next generation of children is AIDS-free," Davis said.
He noted it would be impossible for nations to achieve Goal 6 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV
by 2015 if urgent actions on its impact on children are not addressed.
"Failure to meet the goal on HIV/AIDS will adversely affect the world's chances of progress on the other MDGs as the disease will continue to frustrate efforts at reducing poverty and hunger, provide basic education, and improve maternal and child health," he said.
Davis added: "We must also remember that for every adult living with the virus, there is a child who is either infected or affected by it."
UNICEF urged the government, NGOs and all partners to seize the opportunity and scale up responses to ensure that the next generation of Filipinos is HIV-free.###
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