Press
Centre
Press Release
"PRECIOUS TIME HAS BEEN LOST,"
SAYS UNICEF, AS HIV/AIDS SOARS IN CEE/CIS AND BALTICS
NEW YORK, 18 September 2002 - HIV/AIDS is spreading
at a faster rate in parts of Central and Eastern Europe
and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS) than
anywhere else in the world, says UNICEF in a new report,
The Social Monitor. The report, tracking the well-being
of children and young people in the region, warns that
HIV/AIDS is the greatest threat to their health as it
moves - virtually unchecked - into the mainstream population
in a number of countries.
"The implications for the region's economic growth
and social stability - which are so dependent on its young
people - are alarming," said Carol Bellamy, Executive
Director of UNICEF. "HIV/AIDS has a young face in
this region. Young people account for most new infections
and their low levels of HIV awareness, combined with increasingly
risky behaviour, herald a catastrophe. It is clear that
the gravity of the situation has been underestimated and
that precious time has been lost. Without immediate and
radical action, there is little to stop the spread of
the disease."
In the CIS, almost 80% of new infections were registered
among people under 29 between 1997 and 2000. In Estonia,
the report finds, 38% of newly registered infections are
among those aged under 20, and 90% among people under
30 years of age.
The report, produced by the UNICEF Innocenti Research
Centre in Florence, points to the growth in substance
abuse, particularly drug injection, the earlier sexual
activity of young people, and the growing numbers of sex
workers as the underlying reasons for the rapid spread
of the disease in some countries.
By the end of 2001, there were an estimated one million
people with HIV/AIDS in the region, up from 420,000 in
1998. Newly registered cases increased more than five-fold
between 1998 and 2001. Two countries, Russia and Ukraine,
account for 90% of the region's estimated HIV/AIDS cases,
but Estonia now has the region's highest rate of new HIV
infections, with more than one in every 1,000 people infected
in 2001 - almost 20 times the average EU rate. HIV is
also spreading rapidly in Latvia and Kazakhstan, and the
number of cases is rising again in Ukraine and Moldova.
While data suggest little growth in HIV/AIDS in Central
and South-Eastern Europe, there is no room for complacency.
The majority of infections in the region are among injecting
drug users, but as The Social Monitor reveals, there is
increasing sexual transmission in countries such as Belarus
and Ukraine where HIV made its first appearance in the
region. In Belarus, 8% of new infections in 1996 were
attributed to sexual transmission. By the first half of
2001, that proportion had soared to 32%.
The high prevalence of other sexually transmitted infections,
such as syphilis and gonorrhoea, suggest that conditions
are ripe for the further spread of HIV. And the rising
proportion of infections among women, who are less likely
to be injecting drug users, is another sign of increasing
sexual transmission. Women accounted for 25% of officially
registered infections in the CIS countries between 1997
and 2000.
Meanwhile, says the report, awareness about HIV prevention
remains far lower - even in the worst-hit countries -
than in Western Europe. While a UNICEF opinion poll found
that teenagers in the region mention condom use most frequently
as a way to avoid infection, awareness of condom use as
a means of prevention remains significantly lower than
in Western European countries. Fewer than 70% of teenagers
in Belarus, Ukraine, or Latvia are aware of condoms as
a means of protection, compared to 97% in France and 87%
in Germany. Where awareness of condom use as a means of
prevention is low, awareness of other safeguards, such
as sexual abstinence or the avoidance of injected drugs,
is also low.
"We are seeing the spread of HIV/AIDS into the mainstream
population in the countries that were first affected.
Our fear is that we may be seeing the same scenario in
other countries in the near future," said Bellamy.
"We need immediate action, building on the good work
that has already been done."
According to the Social Monitor, national responses to
HIV in some of the worst affected countries, such as Russia,
Belarus and Ukraine, have not had enough impact. But small-scale
projects in these countries are changing the behaviour
of those in high-risk groups and attitudes towards those
affected and could provide models for future action. The
most successful are tailored to the needs of those from
high-risk groups and run in consultation with them. The
report also cites countries such as Poland, Lithuania
and Kyrgyzstan, which took early action to confront HIV/AIDS.
Building on these experiences, the report highlights areas
for immediate policy action to curb the spread of the
disease:
- Raise awareness of HIV and prevention, not only by
informing young people but also by involving them in
awareness-raising campaigns and peer education;
- Ensure that schools address HIV more openly, including
in life skills education;
- Ensure a stronger gender focus and targeted policies
to reach those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds;
- Build accessible and youth-friendly health care and
advisory services;
- Create effective systems to track the epidemic;
- Foster more inclusive attitudes towards those infected
and those at high risk.
"The region has great assets in its fight against
HIV/AIDS," said Bellamy. "It has projects that
are making a difference, extensive health-care services
and a literate population. We can build on these strengths
and on the commitments made by world leaders just five
months ago at the UN Special Session on Children. They
pledged to support the fight against HIV/AIDS, which must
be won if we are to build a world fit for children - a
world based on the right of every child and young person
to physical, emotional and economic well-being."
The Social Monitor also highlights recent economic and
demographic trends in the region, with growing economies
and falling child populations providing an opportunity
to invest in education and to tackle child poverty, child
institutionalization and social exclusion, as well as
HIV/AIDS.
NOTE TO EDITORS:
Today sees the launch of the UNICEF CEE/CIS and Baltics
website, with information on every country in the region,
including 'the big picture' of the overall situation,
UNICEF programmes, latest statistics and a range of features.
Go to www.unicef.org/programme/highlights/cee
The Social Monitor is produced by the UNICEF Innocenti
Research Centre in Florence. Embargoed media materials,
including short features, background information and downloadable
copies of the report in English and Russian, are available
from the IRC Newsroom: http://www.unicef-icdc.org/cgi-bin/unicef/presscentre/newsroom_top.sql
Overcoming HIV/AIDS is an UNICEF priority, alongside
girls' education, integrated early childhood development,
immunization 'plus' and increased protection of children
from violence, abuse, exploitation and discrimination.
For further information, contact:
Karuna Nundy, UNICEF Media, New York, e-mail: knundy@unicef.org,
tel: + 1 212 303 7941
Angela Hawke, UNICEF Regional Office for Central and
Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States
and the Baltic States,
e-mail: ahawke@unicef.org, tel: (4122) 909 5607
Patrick McCormick, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre,
e-mail: pmccormick@unicef.org tel: (39 055) 203 3354
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