Children missing out on HIV drugs
Oxfam, Plan International, Save the Children, Unicef, World Vision ENDA Tiers Monde, the Latin America and the Caribbean Network for Children
Coming together as the Global Movement for Children, they said the international community must urgently address the problem.
Group chairman Dean Hirsch, said the lack of treatment amounted to a death sentence for millions of children.
He warned most of HIV-positive children die before their fifth birthday.
Children are the missing face of HIV and Aids
Ann Veneman, Unicef
More than 90% of children with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa - they have the least access to treatment, the report said.
Mother-to-child transmission
- The Global Movement for Children said that, in June 2005, around four million children were in need of cotrimoxazole, an antibiotic costing 3 US cents per day per child, which prevents life-threatening infections in HIV infected children and infants born to HIV-positive mothers.
- It can also delay the onset of Aids and the need for anti-retroviral therapy.
- It adds that 90% of HIV-positive children are infected by a failure to prevent mother-to-child transmission.
- The report says providing a mother with comprehensive care can reduce the risk of transmission to less than 2%.
- But under 10% of HIV-positive pregnant women currently receive the necessary drugs.
Read more
Read Unicef Press Release
Download full report Date: 5/25/2006 12:00:00 AM
Copyright 2006 BBC, Oxfam, Plan International, Save the Children, Unicef, World Vision ENDA Tiers Monde, the Latin America and the Caribbean Network for Children
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