CANADA – A new Global Alliance for Ending AIDS in Children by 2030 has been unveiled during the 24th International AIDS Conference at Montreal, Canada.
The alliance was formed by The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), The World Health Organization (WHO) and other stakeholders.
Stagnation of progress for children and the widening gap between children and adults informed the decision to form the alliance, according to the stakeholders.
Its main goal would be to guarantee that no child living with HIV is denied treatment by the end of the decade and to stop new infant HIV infections.
According to data that was just published in the UNAIDS Global AIDS Update 2022, only half (52%) of children living with HIV are receiving the life-saving medication, considerably behind adults whose three quarters (76%) are receiving antiretrovirals.
The alliance has attracted national governments in the most afflicted countries including Angola, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that no child should be born with or grow up with HIV and no child should go without treatment.
He also added that The Global Alliance to End AIDS in Children is an opportunity to renew their commitment to children and their families to unite, speak and act with purpose and in solidarity with all mothers, children, and adolescents.
Addressing the International AIDS Conference, Limpho Nteko from Lesotho shared that to succeed, we needed a healthy, informed generation of young people who felt free to talk about HIV and to get the services and support they need to protect themselves and their children from HIV.
With a goal of resolving one of the most visible gaps in the AIDS response, the alliance will last for the next eight years, or until 2030.
Each member of the alliance agrees that cooperation will be necessary to overcome the issue.
The alliance has attracted national governments in the most afflicted countries including Angola, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are the other countries that have joined the alliance so far.
Civil society organizations like the Global Network of People Living with HIV, and foreign partners like The United States President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund have joined the initiative.
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