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Health & Medicine, World Affairs
Mahesh

04/02/23 08:44 AM IST

12 African countries commit to ending AIDS in kids by 2030

In News
  • Ministers and representatives from 12 African countries have laid out plans to end acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in children by 2030 through early testing, treatment and prevention programmes. 
About the program
  • Countries with high HIV burdens have joined the alliance in the first phase: Angola, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
  • The Global Alliance to end AIDS in children will work to drive progress over the next seven years to ensure that the 2030 target is met.
  • The Dar-es-Salaam Declarationon ending AIDS in children was endorsed unanimously. The commitment marks a step up to ensure that all children with HIV have access to life-saving treatment and that mothers living with HIV have babies free from HIV.
  • Currently, a child dies from AIDS-related causes every five minutes globally. Only half (52 per cent) of children living with HIV are on life-saving treatment, far behind adults, of whom 76 per cent are receiving antiretrovirals.
Four Pillars
  • Early testing and optimal treatment and care for infants, children, and adolescents;
  • Closing the treatment gap for pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV to eliminate vertical transmission;
  • Preventing new HIV infections among pregnant and breastfeeding adolescent girls and women; 
  • Addressing rights, gender equality and the social and structural barriers that hinder access to services.
AIDS
  • AIDS is a chronic, potentially life-threatening health condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that interferes with the body's ability to fight infections.
  • HIV attacks CD4, a type of White Blood Cell (T cells) in the body’s immune system.
  • T cells are those cells that move around the body detecting anomalies and infections in cells.
  • After entering the body, HIV multiplies itself and destroys CD4 cells, thus severely damaging the human immune system. Once this virus enters the body, it can never be removed.
  • The CD4 count of a person infected with HIV reduces significantly. In a healthy body, CD4 count is between 500- 1600, but in an infected body, it can go as low as 200.
Source- DTE

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