HIV has exacted a terrible toll on many children in sub-Saharan Africa. Of more than 17.8 million children who have lost one or both parents to HIV globally, 15 million live in Africa. Another three million are infected with HIV. And each year very large numbers are made vulnerable when parents or family members become sick and are unable to work.
The global health community has made significant progress over the past 15 years to understand how to keep HIV-positive children alive and prevent infant infections. Between 2001 and 2013, paediatric infections decreased by 58%. And the number of children on antiretrovirals increased from 355,000 in 2009 to 740,000 in 2013.
Arguably, children - and their families - who are affected by HIV and receive donor assistance may be less vulnerable than their peers who have not had their lives touched by HIV, but still grow up in extreme poverty.
For this reason, the call to action to address childhood vulnerability in Africa must go far beyond the 17.8 million children infected and affected by HIV.
[For more of this story, written by Jennifer Beard, go to http://allafrica.com/stories/201603071522.html]
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