The Children’s Fund of the United Nations said it is alarmed over the increasing rates of HIV and AIDS amongst the adolescent population over the past seven years. The fund is proposing an aggressive style program that includes the distribution of condoms and antiretroviral treatments.
However, in a development that is more positive, UNICEF has found that the transmission of HIV from mother to child has dramatically reduced. The organization estimates that nearly 850,000 cases have been prevented in middle and low-income countries.
In a report released on Friday the U.N. organization said deaths related to AIDS amongst those 10 to 19 years of age increased to 110,000 from 71,000 between 2005 and 2012. Nearly 2.1 million people who are adolescents had HIV during 2012.
Close to 90% of the children who were newly infected with the virus, live in only 22 countries, with all but one in sub-Saharan Africa.
UNICEF has found a dramatic improvement in the prevention of new infections of HIV amongst infants. Approximately 260,000 children have been newly infected with HIV during 2012, in comparison to over 540,000 during 2005.
New antiretroviral simplified long life treatment referred to as Option B+ has provided an opportunity to treat HIV infected women effectively to prevent transmission of their virus during pregnancy to their babies, as well as during delivery and the term of breastfeeding. The new treatment involves a regimen of one-pill per day.
The sub-Saharan has seen some of the best successes within the program. New HIV infections amongst infants has fallen by 76% between 2009 and 2012 in Ghana, 58% in Namibia, 55% in Zimbabwe, 52% in Botswana and Malawi and 50% in Ethiopia and Zambia.
The United Nations Organization for children said that around the world, the number of overall deaths related to AIDS had fallen between the year of 2005 and 2012 by over 30%.
A good number of foundations in both the U.S. and other places around the world are working with governments in poorer countries in an attempt to educate them and their people in the prevention and treatment of the deadly virus.
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