December
1, 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day, an effort to raise public awareness about HIV/AIDS issues, including the need for support and
understanding for people living with HIV/AIDS. The day is also an opportunity to highlight the need for continued development of education and prevention.HIV and AIDS affects children andyoung people most of all. Half of all new
HIV infections – around 6,000 a day –
are among young people aged 14–24.
Every day, almost 2,000 babies are
infected with HIV during
pregnancy,
birth or through breastfeeding. This threat is not only to their own health; estimates show that some
16 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS and another
40
million will be orphaned in the next 10 years. Save the Children adopts a number
of approaches across the world to tackle
the spread of HIV/AIDS. We work
with local partners to prevent
infection
by educating children and families. The Youth
Outreach Project
in Papua New Guinea works through recruiting, training and supporting
street teams of young people who spread messages about safe sex, ,
distribute condoms and information,
education and communication
materials, and provide basic psychosocial support and referral to local
health centres.Save the Children's Poro Sapat Project
trains and supports Papua New Guinea's two most vulnerable
groups to
HIV and AIDS - women in sex work and men who have sex with men. The Tingim Laip Project combats HIV and sexually transmitted disease at specific
sites like
major towns and transport routes where transmission is known to be
highly prevalent.Save the Children also works in partnership with Papua New Guinea's
government by
introducing sexual health services to Goroka and
strengthening existing services in Kainantu and rural Bena
sub-district. Save the Children's HIV and AIDS project in Vanuatu uses education and awareness to encourage communities to
support people with HIV
and AIDS, and to assist children who have lost
relatives to the disease.The number of children orphaned due to HIV and AIDS stands at 70,000 and is fastly growing. Our program Supporting Orphans and Vulnerable Children helps children affected by
HIV and AIDS by
providing food parcels, transport for medical care,
access to education and individual counselling and advice.The Youth Peer Education Project
in Lao PDR usese live performances, national events and study visits to
raise young
people's awareness of HIV and AIDS, sexually transmitted
diseases, drug abuse and trafficking. In the Solomon Islands, Save the Children Australia’s HIV and AIDS Prevention Project supports
two government clinics to provide services such as treatment,counselling and testing for HIV. The project also conducts training to
high risk groups such as sex workers to promote behavioural change.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
A child suffering from HIV/AIDS rests at a non-government organisation centre on the eve of World AIDS Day in Aizawl, capital of India's remote northeastern state of Mizoram November 30, 2008. ...
