Attachments
1. The overall situation
The overall situation for children, adolescents, and pregnant women in West and Central Africa
There has been steady but slow progress in protecting children and adolescents against HIV in West and Central Africa
A major AIDS epidemic is still underway in western and central Africa. Over one quarter (26%) of all children living with HIV globally are in this region, and 4 in every 10 (38%) new infections in children occur there.
There have been important gains in the past decade. Coverage of treatment programmes has grown impressively since 2010, including among pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV, and tens of thousands of lives have been saved. About 50 000 children acquired HIV in 2022, 41% fewer than in 2010, while some 16 000 adolescents acquired HIV, this is 49% fewer than 12 years earlier.
But there are persistent gaps that need focused action. Programmes to prevent vertical transmission of HIV are missing far too many women who have HIV. The region is home to about 20% of pregnant women living with HIV globally, but it accounts for 48% of those who are not on HIV treatment.
Prevention programmes are also failing to protect many thousands of adolescents against HIV, especially adolescent girls. Of the estimated 16 000 adolescents who acquired HIV in 2022, nearly 90% were girls.
Among children living with HIV, treatment coverage has increased more than fivefold since 2010, but the programmes still struggle to reach the estimated 400 000 children who are living with HIV. Over one third (37%) of children with HIV were receiving life-saving antiretroviral therapy in 2022.
As a result, an outsized share of AIDS-related deaths in western and central Africa are among children: they comprised about 8% of people living with HIV in 2022 but accounted for 28% of AIDS-related deaths.
Source link : https://reliefweb.int/report/benin/2023-snapshot-hiv-and-aids-west-and-central-africa
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Publish date : 2023-12-01 03:00:00
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