Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - October 25, 2005
Anjira Assavanonda
In Thailand, about 60% of new infections each year were now found in people under 24. In Vietnam, 63% of the people infected were under 30.
Studies indicated children in the region had limited understanding of how the virus was transmitted and what they could do to protect themselves.
In a survey of rural schools in China, over half of the students believed they could prevent HIV by exercising.
Ms Singh was speaking at the Bangkok launch of a global campaign to alert the world to the enormous impact of HIV/Aids on children. She called for a shift in awareness and action on the problems.
The Unite for Children, Unite for Aids campaign aims to raise global awareness of the fact that HIV/Aids is robbing tens of millions of children of their childhood and threatening their future prospects.
Because of HIV/Aids, children and young people were missing out education, medical care and support, while suffering great emotional pain. Statistics showed that an estimated 15 million children worldwide have lost at least one parent because of Aids, and less than 10% of children orphaned or made vulnerable by Aids receive public support or services.
Bai Bagasao, of UNAids Asia Pacific regional office, said young people play a vital role in building sustainable HIV prevention efforts - for themselves, their peers and as a role model for younger children. "So we must engage the voice of youth in the long-term fight against Aids," she said.
Few children infected with HIV were receiving life-prolonging medicines. In Asia and the Pacific, 34,500 children needed anti-retroviral treatment last year but less than 1% of them were receiving it. Only a small number currently receive Cotrimoxazole, a powerful antibiotic which nearly halves child deaths from HIV/Aids and costs just a few cents a day.
Bangkok Senator Jon Ungphakorn said new anti-retroviral drugs must be developed, specially for small children.
"Today, small children infected with HIV/Aids have to take tablets for adults instead of syrup which is more suitable for them. I have heard many carers say they have to break up the tablets so kids can take them, and yet it was not clear how much was the right dose," he said.
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