| ■ HIV/AIDS may make 25 million children orphans by 2010: expert | 06.08.24 |
| No fewer than 25 million children worldwide may be orphaned by the HIV/AIDS scourge by 2010, the official News Agency of Nigeria reported on Wednesday. Dr. Austin Omoigberale, an official of the World Health Organization (WHO), was quoted as saying that "HIV/AIDS infection in children rose significantly in the last decade worldwide." "AIDS accounts for 7.7 percent of mortality worldwide and 4.19 percent in infant mortality given a 36 percent rise in death of children under five years, said Omoigberale when presenting a paper entitled: "HIV/AIDS infection in Children" at a scientific session organized by the Nigerian Medical Association's on Tuesday. He said that women and children had been left behind in the campaign against the scourge of HIV/AIDS and it was only in 2005 that drugs were made available for children. "Many children are infected daily with the virus by their mothers in developing countries, through mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy, labor and delivery and breast feeding," he said. He said HIV/AIDS in children is preventable even though in children's clinical features, HIV infection overlaps with those of other childhood diseases. Statistics from the WHO show that HIV/AIDS has already made 13 million children orphans in the world. |