Parliaments urged to protect children affected by HIV/AIDS
May 10, 2006
ANDNetwork.com, by Joseph Mboya
Nairobi — The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UNAIDS said yesterday that Parliaments are uniquely placed to make a profound difference for children affected by the disease by breaking the silence about the pandemic’s impact on children.
Parliaments must embrace legislations to protect children’s rights to healthcare and support, said IPU, UNICEF and UNAIDS during the 114th assembly of the IPU currently underway in
“Parliamentarians can put children at the center of the global AIDS agenda where they belong,” UNICEF executive director Ann M. Veneman said.
“A child under 15 dies every minute of every day because of Aids, but children still are rarely mentioned in global survey of the pandemic. If children are not counted, they don’t count,” Veneman said.
She added that Parliamentarians must help ensure that children will no longer be missing from the minds of global policymakers, national governments, pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions and public groups responding to the pandemic.”
In his presentation, United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis said lack of treatment for HIV-positive children amounts to a death sentence. “Without treatment, half of these children will die before their second birthday – 80 per cent before they reach the age of five,” said Lewis.
“These children are missing out on treatment because they are still missing from national policies. They are forgotten by the public, who see AIDS as an adult disease, and forgotten by leaders who focus on adults when it comes to laws, policies and budgets,” added the UN Special Envoy.
And in her presentation, Kenya’s education assistant minister Beth Mugo noted that despite campaigns by international organisations such as UNICEF and UNAIDS, AIDS is still threatening children more than ever.
“A child under 15 years dies of AIDS related illness every minute of every day. A young person of between 15 and 24 years contracts HIV every 15 seconds,” said Mugo.
She added that less than 10 per cent of children who have been orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS have access to public support or services.
“In sub-Saharan