In 2023, 96,000 girls and 41,000 boys aged 15 to 19 will be newly infected with HIV, meaning seven in 10 new infections among adolescents are among girls, UNICEF said in a report released ahead of World AIDS Day on Saturday.

“Children and adolescents are not fully reaping the benefits of increased access to treatment and prevention services,” said Anurita Bains, UNICEF deputy director of HIV/AIDS.

“Yet children living with HIV need to be prioritized when it comes to investing resources and efforts to expand treatment for all, including by expanding innovative testing technologies.”

77 percent of adults living with HIV have access to anti-retroviral treatment, but only 57 percent of children 14 and under and 65 percent of youth ages 15 to 19 have access to life-saving medications.

Children aged 14 and under make up only three percent of those living with HIV, but they accounted for 12 percent (76,000) of AIDS-related deaths in 2023.

According to a report by UNAIDS, approximately 1.3 million people will be infected with the disease in 2023.

This figure is still three times more than needed to meet the UN goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

Nearly 630,000 people died from AIDS-related diseases last year, the report said, ahead of World AIDS Day on Sunday, the lowest level since a peak of 2.1 million in 2004.

Much of the progress has been attributed to antiretroviral treatments that can reduce the amount of virus in patients’ blood.

The report warned that of the approximately 40 million people living with HIV worldwide, approximately 9.3 million are not receiving treatment.

© 2024 AFP