Children and youth: The main target group for HIV / AIDS prevention

HIV / AIDS is spreading rapidly in East Asia and the Pacific. However, children and young people are not included in the regional HIV / AIDS prevention program.

HIV / AIDS children receive antiviral drugs at an orphanage in Cambodia

By the end of 2005, about 450,000 children in the area lost their parents or lost both parents due to AIDS, and hundreds of thousands of other children had to live with parents who were always sick or dying.

More than 30,000 children live with HIV and AIDS, of which nearly 11,000 are newly infected last year. Millions of other children and youth in the region are at high risk of getting HIV or being discriminated against and discriminated against.

The above information was presented at the Regional Consultation Conference on Children and AIDS, which opened March 22 in Hanoi.

Experts say the actual situation of HIV / AIDS in the region is more serious than what we know.

The lack of accurate and consistent data on children and youth has hampered regional AIDS programs. Currently, only a few countries in the region have collected these data, but mostly only at the provincial level.

A recent youth survey by Child Relief Organizations in 6 countries in the region has shown, although many children and young people know about HIV / AIDS information, but this information is often inaccurate and ineffective.

Moreover, the most vulnerable children say that they cannot use HIV prevention services.

LH