Latest HIV & AIDS Global Snapshot warns that a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic is deepening the inequalities that have long drive HIV epidemic, putting vulnerable children, adolescents, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers at increased risk of missing life-saving HIV prevention and treatment services.
“HIV epidemic enters its 5th decade amid a global pandemic that has overloaded health care systems and constrained access to life-saving services. Meanwhile, rising poverty, mental health issues, and abuse are increasing children and women’s risk of infection,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.
“Unless we ramp up efforts to resolve the inequalities driving the HIV epidemic, which are now exacerbated by COVID-19, we may see more children infected with HIV and more children losing their fight against AIDS.”
At least 310,000 children were newly infected with HIV in 2020, or one child every two minutes, UNICEF said in a report released today. Another 120,000 children died from AIDS-related causes during the same period, or one child every 5 mins.

Alarmingly,2 in 5 children living with HIV worldwide do not know their status, and just over half of children with HIV are receiving antiretroviral treatment. Some barriers to adequate access to HIV services are longstanding and familiar, including discrimination & gender inequalities.
Report notes many countries saw significant disruptions in HIV services due to COVID in early 2020. HIV infant testing in high burden countries declined by 50 to 70%, with new treatment initiations for children under 14 years of age falling by 25 to 50%. Lockdowns contributed to increased infection rates due to spikes in gender-based violence, limited access to follow-up care, and stockouts of key commodities. Several countries also experienced substantial reductions in health facility deliveries, maternal HIV testing and antiretroviral HIV treatment initiation. In an extreme example, ART coverage among pregnant women dropped drastically in South Asia in 2020, from 71% to 56%.
Although uptake of services rebounded in June 2020, coverage levels remain far below those before COVID-19, and the true extent of the impact remains unknown.

Source- IndiaTimes.