Over 96,000 Girls, 41,000 Boys Newly Infected with HIV in 2023

News Desk

Islamabad: Ahead of World AIDS Day, UNICEF raised concerns on Friday about the alarming rate of new HIV infections among young women and girls, emphasizing their limited access to prevention and treatment services.

In its report, UNICEF revealed that in 2023, 96,000 girls and 41,000 boys aged 15-19 were newly infected with HIV, with seven out of 10 new adolescent infections occurring in girls. In sub-Saharan Africa, the situation is even more severe, with nine out of 10 new infections among this age group affecting girls.

UNICEF’s Associate Director of HIV/AIDS, Anurita Bains, stated, “Children and adolescents are not fully reaping the benefits of scaled-up access to treatment and prevention services,” adding that children living with HIV must be prioritized in efforts to scale up treatment, including the expansion of innovative testing technologies.

Despite 77 percent of adults with HIV having access to antiretroviral therapy, only 57 percent of children under 14 and 65 percent of teenagers aged 15-19 can access the life-saving medicine. While children under 14 make up just 3 percent of those living with HIV, they accounted for 12 percent of AIDS-related deaths in 2023, totaling 76,000 deaths.

The UNAIDS report indicated that approximately 1.3 million people contracted HIV in 2023, three times higher than the target needed to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Around 630,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses last year, the lowest figure since the peak of 2.1 million deaths in 2004.

Much of the progress in reducing deaths has been credited to antiretroviral treatments, which reduce the viral load in patients’ blood. However, the report also highlighted that out of nearly 40 million people living with HIV globally, 9.3 million are not receiving the necessary treatment.