UNICEF alarmed over trend in AIDS-related deaths among teens

The report found that while 71,000 young people between the ages of10 and 19 died of AIDS in 2005, the number grew to 110,000 in 2012, a trend that the authors of the report attribute to the lack of testing and counseling facilities available for young people.
In light of the report's findings, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) recommended an investment of 5.5 billion dollars by 2014 that could prevent 2 million adolescents from contracting HIV in the coming years.
"If high-impact interventions are scaled up using an integrated approach, we can halve the number of new infections among adolescents by 2020," said Anthony Lake, executive director of UNICEF. "It's a matter of reaching the most vulnerable adolescents with effective programmes - urgently."
In contrast to adolescents, the report found a downward trend in the number of infants with HIV transmitted by the mother.
In 2005, the number of infants with HIV was at 540,000, however, due to prevention programmes for pregnant and breastfeeding women with HIV, the number dropped to 260,000 in 2012.
"The world now has the experience and the tools to achieve an AIDS-free generation," Lake said. "Children should be the first to benefit from our successes in defeating HIV, and the last to suffer when we fall short."//DPA