press conference to launch ‘unite for children, unite against aids’ campaign

While massive efforts and resources had been marshalled to address the AIDS/HIV pandemic, children were tragically “missing” from those efforts, Ann M. Veneman, Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said at a Headquarters press conference today.

Speaking about the Fund’s global campaign “Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS”, she noted that the generation of children now growing up was the first never to have known a world without AIDS.  They were missing parents, teachers and many things, except for the devastating effects of the disease.  The campaign was to be officially launched in New York at 10 a.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, 25 October, and in other locations worldwide.  Expected to speak at the occasion were young people affected by AIDS, Jeanette Kagame, First Lady of Rwanda, Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Ms. Veneman and Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Every minute of every day, a child died because of AIDS, and every day, nearly 1,800 children under the age of 15 years were infected with HIV, Ms. Veneman said.  In some countries where HIV/AIDS was most prevalent, life expectancy had plummeted from the mid-60s to the low 30s, so that turning 18 could mean reaching “middle age”.  They should follow the lead of Ireland, which announced this morning that it would earmark 20 per cent of its HIV/AIDS contributions for efforts targeted at children.  Reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS, which was necessary for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, required focusing on children.

Addressing the press conference, Peter McDermott, Chief of UNICEF’s HIV/AIDS Section, said the global campaign was intended to focus on four key efforts:  preventing mother-to-child-transmission; providing paediatric treatment; preventing HIV/AIDS infection; and protecting and supporting children affected by HIV/AIDS.  To prevent transmission, the campaign aimed to provide appropriate services to 80 per cent of women in need by 2010, up from the current 10 per cent.  Through the provision of paediatric treatment, the campaign sought to cut by half the 500,000 children who, infected at birth, died each year before reaching the age of one year; through prevention, it hoped to reduce by 25 per cent the number of children between the ages of four and 15 infected annually by 2010; and through efforts to protect children, it hoped to reach 80 per cent of the children most in need by 2010.

Also present was 20-year-old Kerrel McKay from Jamaica, whose father died of AIDS five years ago.  She was one of a number of young people affected by the disease who were to introduce the campaign.  She said that as her father’s primary caregiver, she had received vital support from members of her community, the kind of support that the campaign sought to provide to children worldwide.

Asked who was responsible for the historic lack of focus on the impact of HIV/AIDS on children, and what practical steps the campaign would take to attract the required attention, Ms. Veneman said the campaign was designed to raise awareness among policymakers, Governments, the private sector and others of the need to focus attention on children affected by HIV/AIDS.

A correspondent, noting that much attention was devoted to sub-Saharan Africa, asked how the campaign would deal with HIV/AIDS in the Middle East and what level of cooperation UNICEF had found in that region.

Mr. McDermott said that the disease was a global problem whose presence had historically been denied in the Middle East because of a contention that the region had no marginal groups.  The campaign would try to break down stigmas and discrimination surrounding HIV/AIDS, and two countries, Djibouti and Iran, were taking the lead in combating the pandemic.  Following the holy month of Ramadan, the campaign was to be launched at an Islamic conference in Rabat, Morocco, indicating that children and HIV/AIDS were on the Islamic agenda.

Given that a vast majority of young people did not know how AIDS was transmitted, what practical ideas did UNICEF have, and did those include the promotion condom use? another journalist asked.

Mr. McDermott replied that the campaign was undertaking an extensive education effort in life skills in and out of schools.  Already in certain countries, including Malawi and parts of Zambia and the United Republic of Tanzania,there had been reductions in the number of sexual partners that young people took on.  They were also delaying marriage and sexual activity.

In response to a question, Mr. McDermott said Brazil had taken a leading role in addressing HIV/AIDS among children and, in an initiative called “Brazil+6”, was sharing experience and technical expertise in providing antiretrovirals to other countries.

Asked what resources the campaign would draw upon, Ms. Veneman said it expected to spend $33 billion over five years, drawing on commitments already made and additional resources it hoped to raise.

How could a UNICEF policy to keep children with their families be followed when communities devastated by AIDS were collapsing? another journalist asked.  Ms. Veneman said the Fund’s approach was to try to enable children to remain in their communities by providing such services as day care and meals in schools.  But in some cases, where children had lost their parents and had nowhere to go, the policy had to be flexible.

Responding to a question as to why some areas lacked the most basic medical supplies to treat children, despite a $6 billion allocation for HIV/AIDS last year, Mr. McDermott said it was notable that in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa, 60 per cent of the population was still HIV/AIDS-negative.  In addition, tens of millions of children who had lost caregivers to AIDS were not roaming the streets because people were taking care of them.  One major problem that anti-HIV/AIDS campaigns faced was that donors did not know whether their money was reaching children.

Asked how UNICEF was responding to the South Asian earthquake, Ms. Veneman said that immediately after the disaster, the agency had begun providing tents, tarpaulins, blankets and other materials.  The Fund was also working to identify children and to ensure that they did not fall victim to trafficking.

To a question about how the Hispanic community was responding to HIV/AIDS, Mr. McDermott replied that UNICEF had information available about the impact of, and actions being taken in response to, HIV/AIDS in specific communities.

Responding to a question about the role UNICEF would play in other HIV/AIDS initiatives, Ms. Veneman said it would play a leadership role in coordinating all HIV/AIDS efforts.

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For information media • not an official record