Kathmandu, July 12: The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) said today that if nations hope to defeat HIV/AIDS, they must commit to the “largest mobilisation of resources in their history” and organise themselves as if they were fighting “a full blown war of liberation,” with young people in the forefront.
UNICEF’s statement comes in the wake of its findings that the dreaded disease infects six people under the age of 25 every minute around the world. “HIV/AIDS constitutes the greatest threat many societies have ever faced,” said Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF. “Unfortunately, in many ways it has been a hidden enemy, aided and abetted by a general reluctance to acknowledge its strength and our own vulnerability. Thus we have not confronted AIDS with the full force we are capable of,” she said.
“Virtually, every society understands what it means to wage a struggle for liberation,” Bellamy further added, noting that the concept has particular resonance in Africa. “It means mobilising every available resource; it means involving men and women on an equal basis; it means accepting the vital role to be played by young people; and it means sparing no effort and brooking no diversions until all of society is liberated. That’s what is needed now – nothing less.”
Bellamy’s comments came as UNICEF unveiled a new report detailing the enormous impact of HIV/AIDS among young people, who UNICEF said “hold the key to breaking the transmission rate and ultimately defeating AIDS.”
The UNICEF report, titled The Progress of Nations 2000, finds that almost a third of all people with HIV/AIDS are between the ages of 15 and 24 – a total of some 10 million young people; every minute, six young people under the age of 25 become infected with HIV; girls and young women are more than 50 per cent more likely to contract HIV than boys and young men.
According to the report, in 1999 alone, an estimated 860,000 primary school children in sub-Saharan Africa lost their teachers to AIDS. “What this report tells us is that, so far, our efforts to stop the spread of HIV have not been sufficient.” Bellamy told a large audience gathered in Durban, South Africa, for the International AIDS Conference this week.
“Particularly, disturbing is the evidence that large numbers of young people in HIV-prevalent countries are not clear on how to protect themselves. Many don’t know they are at risk at all – especially girls – and that’s a disaster.”
One third of global HIV-cases is found in young people. About half the HIV/AIDS cases in Nepal are in the 20-29 age group. HIV prevalence in Nepal at present is estimated at 0.2-0.4 per cent of the general population.
Based on this prevalence rate, USAID projects a two-fold increase of HIV infection by 2005 to 60,000, if prevention effort does not intensify. As of May 31, 2000, the National Centre for AIDS and STD Control recorded a total of 1,541 cumulative cases of HIV infection. Of these, 342 have progressed to full-blown AIDS.
But a WHO-UNAIDS surveillance projects the number of cases of infection at 33,500 of which about 30 per cent are injecting drug users. These cases give an indication of the extent of under-reporting and people’s ignorance of their own HIV status in the absence of easily accessible blood screening facilities.
A recent assessment of drug users and HIV indicates that drug injection is the predominant mode of HIV transmission. HIV/AIDS is spreading increasingly through the sharing of uncleaned needles.
According to NCASC figures, some 22 per cent among drug users in Nepal are in the age group of 16-20 and 34 per cent are between 21-15.