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Less than 25% of adolescents and young adults have access to HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) testing in Latin America and the Caribbean.a situation that worries UNICEF, which estimates
Less than 25% of adolescents and young adults have access to HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) testing in Latin America and the Caribbean.a situation that worries UNICEF, which estimates 11,000 new infections among this population in the region every year.
Harry ConilThis was announced on Friday by the UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Although the region has not seen a significant increase in HIV infections, we are concerned that teenagers and young adults are contracting the virus without even knowing it.
The official explained that “less than 25% of adolescents and young adults have access to HIV testing” in the region, while “access to sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents is limited.”
It is in this context that the new UNICEF publication on children living with HIV and AIDS is valued at approximately 30 new daily cases among teenagers and young adults from 10 to 19 years in Latin America and the Caribbean, that is, about 11 thousand per year.
New infections in this age group are largely concentrated among men, the UN children’s arm said, adding that between 2010 and 2021, the decline in HIV infections was 25% among adolescent women and only 3% among adolescents. -men. .
Despite this, girls, adolescents and women continue to be disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic, including due to gender inequality, poverty and lack of access to HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health programmes.
This was reported by the UN regional office, whose headquarters are located in Panama.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, approximately 34,000 pregnant women require treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the virus, according to the latest UNICEF data.
UNICEF warned that younger populations also face greater challenges in the fight against AIDS, with only 39% of boys and girls aged 0 to 14 receiving antiretroviral treatment in 2023, according to the UN.
This is due to limited access to services and care, resulting in half of untreated HIV-infected children dying before the age of two, and 8 out of 10 dying before the age of five.
UNICEF also noted that amid the migration crisis facing the Americas, this mobile population is increasingly moving away from HIV programs due to high levels of stigma associated with the virus, fear of deportation and limited access to prevention and treatment services. .
The gap in service coverage between migrants and local populations is exacerbated when health systems in host countries do not guarantee uninsured people access to medical and laboratory services, UNICEF added.
Among the actions needed to end pediatric AIDS and protect women, children, adolescents and the most vulnerable from HIV, UNICEF calls on governments to collect and use data to inform evidence and action on the issue.
Also use HIV-related resources to address gaps; raise awareness of the population, especially adolescents, about the routes of transmission of the virus and its prevention; and create differentiated, free health services without legal barriers to access that make it easier to obtain information.
(according to information from EFE)
Source: Aristegui Noticias
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