The number of new HIV infections among children is more than eight times the global target. Two fifths of all children born with HIV go undiagnosed and half are not treated. And while children represent only 5% of people living with HIV, they account for 15% of AIDS-related deaths. These and other grim statistics in the UNAIDS 2022 Global Update put in stark relief just how far behind the targets we are. The Coalition has launched a new report that identifies how much is spent on children and adolescents affected by HIV and what action we can all take to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and end AIDS. Read the report here.
COVID-19 is having catastrophic and lasting consequences for millions of children, adolescents and caregivers affected by HIV and AIDS. The stigma, co-morbidities and socio-economic vulnerabilities associated with HIV and AIDS, leave them especially vulnerable to the new pandemic and its impacts. Lock downs have curtailed livelihoods and the support they rely on in order to survive and thrive. We have published a new Policy Briefing calling for action now to prevent those already made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS from being further impacted; and so as not lose precious gains made against HIV. Read the COVID-19 Policy Briefing now.
Millions of children are out of the reach of HIV testing, treatment, and care services. Social protection is an important tool for bridging this gap. However, there is limited evidence on how it can protect and support vulnerable children and adolescents in testing, treatment and care. In an effort to help gather much-needed evidence, the Coalition for Children Affected by AIDS and ViiV Healthcare’s Positive Action launched the Reaching All Children Challenge and asked respondents to show evidence-based interventions demonstrating how social protection leads to HIVs testing, treatment and care for children in low and middle-income countries. The eight winners — highlighted in pages of this brochure — provided compelling evidence of programs that work.
In a recent presentation, Coalition Member, Professor Lorraine Sherr, addresses the complex experiences of HIV positive and HIV-exposed but uninfected adolescents and their young children.
Despite commendable progress in tackling HIV, there are still huge numbers of children out of the reach of HIV testing, treatment and care. Tackling the exclusion of these children is fundamental to achieving HIV targets. The Coalition for Children Affected by AIDS is calling for differentiated service delivery models, including broader social and economic support, to ensure that all children affected by HIV/AIDS can be tested, treated and cared for. This brief, launched at the AIDS 2018 conference in Amsterdam, highlights the priorities on which the world must focus in order to end AIDS in children.
At the AIDSImpact conference in November of 2017, the Coalition issued an advocacy brief highlighting what it will take to reach the poorest, most excluded children for who, advances in HIV treatment, prevention and care remain out of reach.
The children of key populations affected by HIV and AIDS are being overlooked and excluded. They face a double burden: both the affects of disease and entrenched exclusion by way of association with their parents.
Presentations from the Coalition’s 6th Biennial Symposium – which took place in the days leading up to AIDS 2016 in Durban South Africa – are available here.
Watch session from Funders Concerned About AIDS’s 8th Annual AIDS Philanthropy Summit. This session connected international conversations on children and youth and key populations by exploring the special needs and circumstances of the children of key affected populations.
Many children affected by AIDS have parents who are members of marginalized groups such as sex workers, transgender people, people who use drugs, and men who have sex with men. In many cases, the stigma surrounding their parents prevents the children from receiving the services they need because their families fear facing discrimination and/or legal repercussions in clinical or social services settings. The Coalition co-led an international working group,n order to address this barrier to family-centred services. The deliverables included a tool and guidance to assist care workers in managing ethical dilemmas when providing services to children and families of the most stigmatized and marginalized populations.
In advance of the AIDS Conference in Mexico City in 2008, the Coalition hosted a Symposium titled “Children and HIV/AIDS: Action Now, Action How.” Presentations from this meeting are available here.