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Children With AIDS: Mother To Child Transmission, MTCT, Africa And AIDS Orphans
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Published: August 14, 2007
According to the most recent UNAIDS/WHO AIDS Epidemic update, this year over 500,000 children will be born with the AIDS virus, a disease that will kill them at a very young age without treatment. In order to combat this lethal infection and to help children with AIDS, it is important for citizens to be well-informed about AIDS and treatment options for children with AIDS.
That way, if someone they love is diagnosed with this disease, there is still a ray of hope that a cure can be found to rid their loved ones and the world of this devastating epidemic.
Acquired Immune Deficiency syndrome (AIDS) first began infecting humans as early as the 1600s, though the first documented case wasn't recorded until 1981. As of 2006, most scientists agree that the disease originated in wild chimpanzees living in the southeastern rain forests of Cameroon in Africa. Scientists and doctors have since struggled to devise treatment options, and such drugs as Retrovir and Protease Inhibitors have been developed to help combat the disease. With nearly 5 million people contracting the disease every year, and over 40 million living with AIDS, the fight is far from over. Caring for children with AIDS must be a top priority, as they are the innocents and the ones who could not help being born with a disease that would one day kill them.
Children with AIDS most likely contracted the disease from Mother to child transmission (MTCT) , which is when a woman who is HIV-positive passes the disease to her baby during pregnancy, delivery, or even breastfeeding. The majority of children with AIDS who contracted the disease through MTCT reside in Sub-Saharan Africa, a part of the world that has been devastated by AIDS. According to AVERT, an international AIDS charity, The Caribbean, Latin America, and South and Southeast Asia also have a high percentage of children with AIDS, with an estimated 90% contracting the disease through mother to child transmission. The other 10% of children with AIDS most likely contracted it from hospitals where unsterilized needles were used or through HIV-infected blood transfusions.
According to the World Health Organization, high income countries such as the United States have taken initiatives to help reduce the number of children with AIDS who contracted the disease through MTCT. These initiatives include voluntary HIV testing for expectant mothers, antiretroviral therapy and breast-milk substitutes. The number of MTCT children with AIDS has indeed lessened in these higher income countries, so the United States is offering the therapies and treatments to poorer countries all throughout Africa, which is definitely a step in the right direction.
As a result of the devastating effect AIDS has had on the world, AVERT reports about 15 million children under the age of 18 have been left orphaned by the deaths of their AIDS-infected parents. Of this 15 million, 12 million AIDS orphans live in the AIDS-ravaged parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, and researchers estimate about 9% of all children in Africa have lost at least one parent to AIDS. Children with AIDS as well as AIDS orphans face a variety of hardships, including emotional neglect that can lead to serious psychological problems. AIDS orphans will also likely be without basic necessities such as food, water, and shelter and survival becomes a top priority for many AIDS orphans. Programs aimed to help AIDS orphans have been founded all throughout the world, though more help is needed since the number of AIDS orphans increases with each passing year.
Children with AIDS do not deserve the suffering they will have to endure because of this incurable, deadly disease. Although initiatives are being taken to decrease the half-million number of children with AIDS that will be born this year, it is still not enough. Even citizens that cannot afford to monetarily support children with AIDS can help by practicing safe sex and by not using unsterilized needles for any purpose. If enough people help, children with AIDS will at least be given the opportunity to fight for life, for more than a shortened existence in a disease-ridden country.
Sources:
"Global summary of the AIDS epidemic December 2006." UNAIDS.org. 9 Aug 2007. http://data.unaids.org/pub/EpiReport/2006/2006_Epi Update_en.pdf page 7
Cichocki, Mark. "The History of HIV." About.com: AIDS. 23 July 2007. About, Inc. 26 July 2007. http://aids.about.com/od/newlydiagnosed/a/hivtimel ine_2.htm
Berry, Steve. "Children, HIV and AIDS." Avert.org. 25 July 2007. http://www.avert.org/children.htm
Fredriksson, Jenni and Annabel Kanabus. "AIDS orphans." Avert.org. 19 June 2007. 25 July 2007. http://www.avert.org/aidsorphans.htm
Kanabus, Annabel and Rob Noble. "Preventing Mother to Child Transmission of HIV." Avert.org. 26 June 2007. 25 July 2007. http://www.avert.org/motherchild.htm
Acquired Immune Deficiency syndrome (AIDS) first began infecting humans as early as the 1600s, though the first documented case wasn't recorded until 1981. As of 2006, most scientists agree that the disease originated in wild chimpanzees living in the southeastern rain forests of Cameroon in Africa. Scientists and doctors have since struggled to devise treatment options, and such drugs as Retrovir and Protease Inhibitors have been developed to help combat the disease. With nearly 5 million people contracting the disease every year, and over 40 million living with AIDS, the fight is far from over. Caring for children with AIDS must be a top priority, as they are the innocents and the ones who could not help being born with a disease that would one day kill them.
Children with AIDS most likely contracted the disease from Mother to child transmission (MTCT) , which is when a woman who is HIV-positive passes the disease to her baby during pregnancy, delivery, or even breastfeeding. The majority of children with AIDS who contracted the disease through MTCT reside in Sub-Saharan Africa, a part of the world that has been devastated by AIDS. According to AVERT, an international AIDS charity, The Caribbean, Latin America, and South and Southeast Asia also have a high percentage of children with AIDS, with an estimated 90% contracting the disease through mother to child transmission. The other 10% of children with AIDS most likely contracted it from hospitals where unsterilized needles were used or through HIV-infected blood transfusions.
According to the World Health Organization, high income countries such as the United States have taken initiatives to help reduce the number of children with AIDS who contracted the disease through MTCT. These initiatives include voluntary HIV testing for expectant mothers, antiretroviral therapy and breast-milk substitutes. The number of MTCT children with AIDS has indeed lessened in these higher income countries, so the United States is offering the therapies and treatments to poorer countries all throughout Africa, which is definitely a step in the right direction.
As a result of the devastating effect AIDS has had on the world, AVERT reports about 15 million children under the age of 18 have been left orphaned by the deaths of their AIDS-infected parents. Of this 15 million, 12 million AIDS orphans live in the AIDS-ravaged parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, and researchers estimate about 9% of all children in Africa have lost at least one parent to AIDS. Children with AIDS as well as AIDS orphans face a variety of hardships, including emotional neglect that can lead to serious psychological problems. AIDS orphans will also likely be without basic necessities such as food, water, and shelter and survival becomes a top priority for many AIDS orphans. Programs aimed to help AIDS orphans have been founded all throughout the world, though more help is needed since the number of AIDS orphans increases with each passing year.
Children with AIDS do not deserve the suffering they will have to endure because of this incurable, deadly disease. Although initiatives are being taken to decrease the half-million number of children with AIDS that will be born this year, it is still not enough. Even citizens that cannot afford to monetarily support children with AIDS can help by practicing safe sex and by not using unsterilized needles for any purpose. If enough people help, children with AIDS will at least be given the opportunity to fight for life, for more than a shortened existence in a disease-ridden country.
Sources:
"Global summary of the AIDS epidemic December 2006." UNAIDS.org. 9 Aug 2007. http://data.unaids.org/pub/EpiReport/2006/2006_Epi Update_en.pdf page 7
Cichocki, Mark. "The History of HIV." About.com: AIDS. 23 July 2007. About, Inc. 26 July 2007. http://aids.about.com/od/newlydiagnosed/a/hivtimel ine_2.htm
Berry, Steve. "Children, HIV and AIDS." Avert.org. 25 July 2007. http://www.avert.org/children.htm
Fredriksson, Jenni and Annabel Kanabus. "AIDS orphans." Avert.org. 19 June 2007. 25 July 2007. http://www.avert.org/aidsorphans.htm
Kanabus, Annabel and Rob Noble. "Preventing Mother to Child Transmission of HIV." Avert.org. 26 June 2007. 25 July 2007. http://www.avert.org/motherchild.htm
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