How is the HIV/AIDS epidemic affecting children and young people? What is being done to address the consequences of the epidemic and what are the possible ways forward? Save the Children UK research suggests that HIV/AIDS is now the greatest threat to child development in many parts of the world and that it is only by combating the root causes of poverty that the HIV/AIDS epidemic can be tackled.

At the end of 2000, there were an estimated 36.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, of which 1.4 million were children. Each day approximately 3,500 children are infected by, or die from, HIV/AIDS while a total of around 100 million children under the age of 18 would have been orphaned or living in AIDS affected households at the start of the new century.

HIV/AIDS has an impact on children directly and indirectly in many different ways, ranging from the psychological impact of losing one or both parents, to the less obvious impact of reduced access to quality education and health services. The impact of HIV/AIDS on the health of children relates not only to the growing number of children being infected with HIV, but also to the effect HIV/AIDS has on access to healthcare for children who are HIV-negative.

Findings on how the epidemic is affecting children and young people include the following:

• disintegration of traditional support structures and social safety nets
• loss of quality education due to loss of school teachers to HIV/AIDS
• reduced survival and development rates of children through its impact on health, family livelihoods, social welfare and protection
• discrimination and exclusion from the community as a result of stigmatisation
• HIV has a detrimental affect on the education of children due to exclusion, loss of earnings or the need to re-direct household spending towards medical treatment, which severely limits funds for schooling.

In protecting the rights of children affected by HIV/AIDS, Save the Children suggests a number of principles to provide a framework for the development of a broader holistic response to orphans and vulnerable children. Policies include:

• combating the root causes of poverty
• starting to inform children about HIV at a younger age, to equip them with the knowledge and skills that will reduce their risks to contracting STDs, including HIV
• ensuring that exclusion and discrimination of children affected by HIV/AIDS is not tolerated
• addressing the underlying factors contributing to the epidemic, including the lack of accessible and effective youth-friendly health services for people living with HIV and for those at risk.

Source(s):
‘No Quick Fix: A Sustained Response to HIV/AIDS and Children’ Save the Children UK, by Elaine Ireland and Douglas Webb, 2001 Full document.

Funded by: Save the Children UK

id21 Research Highlight: 10 June 2002

Further Information:
Elaine Ireland / Douglas Webb
International Save the Children Alliance
275-281 King Street
London W6 9LZ
UK

Tel: + 44 (0)20 8748 2554
Fax: + 44 (0)20 8237 8000
Contact the contributor: info@save-children-alliance.org

Contact the contributor: sian@save-children-alliance.org

Save the Children, UK

Other related links:
'Delivering the goods: HIV treatment for the poor', Insights Health #2

'Double whammy: herpes and HIV among young people in South Africa'

AIDS Channel reports on further research

AIDS and Poverty in Africa: Prevention and Treatment Require a Focus on Overall Health and Development

UNAIDS provides an update on the AIDS epidemic

UNDP also focuses on AIDS

See further links from the Eldis HIV/AIDS Resource Guide