Talking about HIV and AIDS
Approximately 40.3 million people were living with HIV and AIDS in 2005 - the highest number ever recorded. More than 2 million of them are children under the age of 15, whose early lives have been deeply affected by the crisis.
A nurse holding a condom talks to 13-year-old Pedro about sexual health issues. He is part of a group that meets each week in Vila Braslandia, a 'favela' or slum on the outskirts of San Paulo, Brazil, to explore sexual health issues and HIV and AIDS prevention. Photo credit: Leticia Valverdes.
Save the Children is working flat out to protect children whose lives have been affected by the pandemic. Young people affected by poverty, illiteracy, low levels of schooling, child labour and early pregnancy have an increased risk of contracting HIV. We are playing a leading role in getting children and their communities to talk about HIV and AIDS to ensure they get the knowledge and skills they need to protect themselves.
We have found that young people listen to and receive information from peers much more effectively than from adults. Children and young people trained as peer educators in Vietnam talked with a total of 71,878 children about how to avoid contracting HIV and AIDS. In Myanmar (Burma), more than 20,000 young people who are currently out of school had discussions about HIV and AIDS and received life-skills training from their peers. Assessments conducted afterwards showed that their knowledge had improved and that condom use had increased.
Brazil has the highest number of people living with the virus in South America.We support the work of peer educators in the cities of Sao Paulo, Recife and Natal, who have helped 2,355 young people talk about relationships, values and rights and to learn about prevention through discussions and drama activities. Surveys show that 36 per cent of young people aged 15 to 24 had had sex before the age of 15 in Brazil, and 20% reported more than 10 partners. We have recently begun working with 10- to 14-year-olds to ensure they have the knowledge and skills to protect themselves against contracting HIV and AIDS.
Our Sissy Aminata programme in Sierra Leone encourages discussion of formerly taboo topics such as safer sex and sexual abuse. The programme produces books and pamphlets with fictional letters sent to an 'agony aunt' Sissy Aminata. The letters are read out and used as a catalyst for discussion on reproductive and sexual health. The programme involves 2,263 children and young people in 49 communities in the country.
In China, we have set up 15 children's activity centres in villages with a high prevalence of HIV and AIDS and in poverty-stricken districts of Fuyang City. More than 3,200 children take part in activities such as story-telling competitions, art and drama. Many children affected by HIV and AIDS experience discrimination at school or in their communities. The centres provide them with an opportunity to develop friendships and to talk about their experiences. They also play a role in running and managing the centres.
Children at the heart of our work
Save the Children directly involves children in communicating about and researching HIV and AIDS and other issues that affect them. Three young journalists from the young people's news agency Headliners (formerly known as Children's Express) in Northern Ireland accompanied a Save the Children delegation to the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto in August 2006 and reported on the proceedings.
We have carried out a number of HIV and AIDS-related research projects led by children over the past year. Listen, Secrets reveals the impact of HIV and AIDS on the lives of children living in Yining City, north-west China and Yingjiang county, in the south-east of the country, areas with high HIV-prevalence caused mainly by intravenous drug use. Children were involved in identifying the research issues, the questions to be asked and the research methods and they analysed the report's findings.
Protecting children affected by HIV and AIDS
An important first step to protecting children and their families is to encourage them to find out their HIV status through testing. We support mobile testing services and clinics in Amhara region, Ethiopia, which helped 5,600 people test for HIV. Around 9% of those people tested were found to be HIV positive, and 75% of those found to be positive were referred for antiretroviral treatment.
A Hygiene kit supplied to children who care for relatives with HIV and AIDS. The kit supplied by Save the Children contains items such as gloves, soap and bleach to minimise the chances of carers becoming infected with HIV. Photo credit: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi.
Ninety per cent of HIV-positive children are infected because pregnant women do not have access to HIV and AIDS prevention services. In Myanmar, more than 16,000 patients were diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted infections at 11 Save the Children-supported clinics - double the number of patients from last year. Over 84% of the patients tested were women. More than 1,400 pregnant women were also provided with the opportunity to be tested for HIV, leading to an increase in the number of pregnant women taking the test in the areas we work in over the past year from 29% to 98%. Confidential counselling and testing of pregnant women and their partners has led to early detection of HIV infection and ensures there is adequate preparation for a safe delivery to prevent mother-to-child transmission. The newborn babies are given Nevirapine, which reduces HIV infection.
More than one million children have been orphaned by the AIDS epidemic in South Africa. Without the support of their parents, these children are less able to get nutritious food and important services, such as healthcare, and are more vulnerable to exploitation. Over the past year we've established 15 new Child Care Forums in South Africa, bringing the total number to 98. These community groups have developed ways to identify and provide care for vulnerable and orphaned children. Our methods have been so successful that the South African Department of Social Development has based its own model on ours, which could lead to millions more children being protected in the future.
We are also co-ordinating the national Caring Schools network, a network of 56 local organisations, which works with schools to provide care and protection for vulnerable children.The number of schools participating in our district programme has increased from 20 to 75 in the past year. Overall, our work has ensured that 40,381 children affected by HIV and AIDS or poverty received at least one service in line with their rights according to the South African constitution, such as food parcels or healthcare referrals.
What we're doing this World Aids Day
- Joining the debate in the House of Lords on HIV. We'll be submitting a question about global financing for children and HIV.
- We're celebrating World AIDS Day in Ethiopia with a community run
- In China we're organising a competition on knowledge of HIV prevention among middle-school students
- We're organising football games in Brazil, while providing advice and counselling and facilitating on site health check ups
- In Angola we'll participate in a national conference on people living with HIV and AIDS, and youth groups will lead awareness activities at a commemoration event.
What you can do
We're working flat out to get every child their rights and we're determined to make further, faster changes. We'd like you to get involved too.
To support our work make a donation online or by calling 0800 8 148 148.
