This page is background information, last updated in May 2002 and still available for reference. For the latest on the Special Session on Children, please go to the Special Session index.

Press kit

Issues & Information
HIV/AIDS

A catastrophic toll on children. Every day, more than 6,000 young people under the age of 25 become infected with HIV. Altogether, 11.8 million young people between the ages of 15 and 24 – and another 2.7 million children under the age of 15 – are living with HIV/AIDS. Currently some 10.4 million children are orphaned by AIDS, having lost either a mother or both parents to the disease – 85 per cent of these children are living in Africa.

HIV/AIDS inflicts suffering not just on these millions of children, but on countless others too. In severely affected areas AIDS impoverishes families, communities and entire nations through the illness and death of productive adults, shredding their capacity to care for children. The deaths of teachers, health workers and other social service staff ravage services that are crucial to fulfilling the rights of children. The consequence is that decades of hard-won gains in child survival, development and education are being unravelled, not only across wide swaths of Africa, but increasingly in Asia, Eastern Europe and the Caribbean.

Denial, stigma and povery fuel the epidemic. There are currently 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS. Yet in several countries denial and pervasive stigma continue to block public awareness efforts, life skills services for young people and other urgently needed prevention programmes.

Poverty and HIV/AIDS thrive on each other. Sexually transmitted infections, which can magnify the risk of HIV transmission through sex by as much as twentyfold, often go untreated because people lack access to or cannot afford good health services and antibiotics. Malnutrition, unsafe water and poor sanitation multiply the risks of opportunistic infections among those affected by HIV/AIDS. Moreover, poor and marginalized communities are typically worst served by social services, with HIV-prevention efforts no exception to this rule. Impoverished children who are not in school miss out on the life skills training that is provided there. High poverty and unemployment can drive young girls, especially those with little or no education, into prostitution, leaving them particularly vulnerable to HIV infection.

Unfinished agenda: How to win against HIV/AIDS

Children and young people are key to defeating the epidemic. The behaviour and skills learned by children and adolescents will determine the course of the epidemic worldwide. Hence, young people must be provided with the information, skills and means to protect themselves against HIV, including through ‘youth-friendly’ sexual and reproductive health services.

Children and young people must also be involved in developing solutions. Experience has shown they can play a powerful role as peer counsellors by encouraging other young people to make safe choices about HIV.

Children and young people must be heard, if the specific needs of orphans and children living with HIV/AIDS are to move to the top of political agendas.

Girls and women must be empowered in all spheres. Unequal gender relations fuel the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This basic disadvantage must be addressed if the epidemic is to be defeated. Girls must be retained in school so they can receive the education, self-confidence and knowledge needed to negotiate safe choices. Those living in situations of violence or conflict must be given special support. Access to voluntary and confidential counselling and testing must be expanded to enable women and their partners to learn their status and to take sensible actions. Pregnant women must receive counselling on safe motherhood and childbirth. Far larger investments are needed to widely expand the use of antiretroviral drugs to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child.

AIDS orphans require special protection and new legislation. Policies and laws must be developed on the care of orphans based on the best interests of each child and the right to family life. Legislation must define standards of protection and care for orphans, promote legal fostering and adoption, establish fair inheritance and property rights and expand community-based care, with institutions considered only as a last resort.

Courageous public leadership is an imperative. Some regions and countries still do not fully recognize the unparalleled gravity of the threat posed by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. To develop a response commensurate to the threat, HIV/AIDS must receive highest priority in national policies, budgets and programmes. Only courageous public leadership can achieve this.

HIV/AIDS is a development priority. In many countries, the epidemic is still regarded as a health issue and addressed almost entirely through the health sector. However, as United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has emphasized, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is “a crisis of governance and a crisis of leadership.” A strong, integrated approach across different sectors is a must. National responses to HIV/AIDS must be integrated into overall development strategies that promote equitable growth, generate employment and strengthen justice and democratic governance.