About the Epidemic

Every day, 6,100 children lose one or both of their parents to AIDS. Never before have so many children been orphaned by a single disease. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has resulted in an estimated 15 million children who have lost one or both parents.

Treatment of HIV-exposed or infected children in resource-poor countries severely lags behind developed countries, where virtually all HIV-infected infants receive combination antiretroviral drugs and prophylactic antibiotics. And yet, less than 5% of the 2.3 million children living with HIV in resource-poor countries received treatment in 2005.

A generic antibiotic (Cortimoxazole) capable of reducing death by 40% from infectious complications of HIV costs less than $3 per year per child. However, it is not routinely used in most resource-poor countries. Without treatment, 30% of HIV-infected infants die within their first year of life and 60% die by age 5.

Children with HIV living in rural areas, those in foster parent or orphan care settings often have minimal access to medical care. Testing for and treating HIV is limited to the training and tools of local healthcare workers, who may also be overwhelmed meeting basic needs and treating other serious and life-threatening diseases, such as malaria and tuberculosis.

In contrast, those who live in resource rich countries benefit from the remarkable scientific advances in preventing and treating HIV. With over 20 drugs to treat HIV infection, the lives of those who are infected have been extended for several decades. Through education on HIV transmission, medical advances, and ample resources to treat HIV, new infections have decreased significantly in resource-rich countries.