Author: Angad Sidhu Angad Sidhu is a second-year student pursuing a major in Sociology. His academic interests include Law and anti-racism within North American cities.
How does AIDS impact people around the world? HIV infects the cells of the human immune system and destroys their functioning. This leads to the depletion of the immune system and an inability to fight off infection. AIDS is the collection of symptoms and infections with a deficiency of the immune system. In 2020 37,700,000 people globally were living with HIV. In the same year, 680,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses. However, there is also good news because of the global initiatives against HIV/AIDS. Since 1997, new HIV infections have been reduced by 52%. Since 2004, AIDS-related deaths have been reduced by 64%. While these numbers are steps in the right direction, HIV/AIDS is still an epidemic yet to be solved. What is UNICEF doing to help with the situation? UNICEF uses a program that focuses on three areas: mother-to-child transmission, paediatric treatment and care, and new HIV infections in adolescents. For mother-to-child transmission, UNICEF emphasises the support and testing of mothers during pregnancy, delivery, and breastfeeding. For the paediatric treatment and care, UNICEF is carrying out early testing in infants and immediate treatment for babies exposed to HIV. With new HIV infections in adolescents, UNICEF is promoting “biomedical, behavioural and structural interventions,” including “pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), HIV self-testing, HIV sensitive protection services” to increase access to treatments. How can I help? The first step is to be informed. Linked below is the UNAIDS Newsletter to stay informed about current progress and challenges. UNICEF is also accepting donations, which would go towards the reduction of HIV/AIDS in mothers and children. In addition, for a more direct way to help combat HIV/AIDS, you can donate to the UNAIDS website. Both donation portals and the newsletter are linked at the bottom of the article.
UNAIDS Newsletter - https://www.unaids.org/en/takeaction UNAIDS Donation - https://www.unaids.org/en/donate UNICEF Donation - https://secure.unicef.ca/page/31858/donate/1 Sources - https://www.unaids.org/en/World_AIDS_Day https://www.unicef.org/hiv
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