HIV & AIDS Treatment Disrupted By COVID-19 Pandemic, Pediatric Services Affected

A child or a young person under the age of 20 got infected with HIV approximately every once in one minute and 40 seconds in 2019, informed UNICEF. The organisation further added that about 3,20,000 children and adolescent were infected with HIV in 2019 out of which 1,10,000 children died of AIDS in the same year stated UNICEF. Informing that a large number of children did not have access to life-saving treatment, UNICEF report stated that the condition of the HIV epidemic has further worsened due to COVID-19 pandemic. Citing data from a Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the UNICEF report showed the impact of several factors, including control measures, supply chain disruption, lack of personal protective equipment and redeployment of healthcare workers, on the HIV healthcare services. The easing of COVID-19 restrictions combined with the strategic targeting of pregnant woman and children, the HIV healthcare services have witnessed a rebound in the recent months. The challenges in providing HIV/AIDS healthcare facilities to people continue to remain, as per UNICEF the world is still far away from achieving the global 2020 pediatric HIV targets. The UNICEF report further informs that while there has been some progress in the decades-long fight against HIV and AIDS, deep regional disparities continue to persist in several areas, especially in terms of pediatric HIV services.