December 1, 2009
This demographic - children born with HIV - represents those who acquire the disease through no fault of their own, yet is often overlooked in AIDS education and resource allocation. The latest United Nations study reports that the number of new HIV infections has decreased 17 percent worldwide over the past eight years, but that figure may be misleading. About 2 million children under the age of 15 live with HIV, about 90 percent of whom acquired the virus from their mother.
In regions of sub-Saharan Africa, the killer remains very much on the loose. Especially in rural areas, HIV-infected mothers often pass the disease to their babies. Only one in three HIV-positive pregnant women receives treatment from Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) programs.
"Most people think of HIV as primarily a sexually-transmitted disease, which it is. But there is a whole invisible population of babies being born with it because the moms have it," said Kristie Urich, coordinator of the World Vision U.S. World AIDS Day task force. "Moms don't intend to pass it to their children. It just happens."
Many HIV-positive mothers are not being adequately educated about the dangers or else they lack the resources to thwart the disease. Their babies can acquire the virus in utero, during the birth process or through breast feeding, Urich said.
In many regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa, cultural barriers and stigma stand between women, their children, and access to life-saving AIDS resources.
"It's an issue of access and women's rights. It's a global issue, not just a cultural issue," said Bwalya Melu, who has worked with World Vision for nearly 20 years.
"According to the U.N., the rates of infection are going down, which is good. But in what category?" he said. "Those not infected are mostly men. Last year's report was that a lot of women, and those under age 16, were not getting access (to AIDS education and necessary anti-viral drugs)."
The disease can strike whole families in some places, as in Princess Kasune Zulu's case. The native Zambian lost her younger sister in 1986 to AIDS.
"She did not make it to her second birthday because she was born with HIV, so this is very personal to me," said Zulu, who speaks on behalf of World Vision as an AIDS activist in Chicago.
The disease took another toll Zulu's mother died of AIDS in 1993 and her father died from the disease four months later. Then, in 1997 she tested HIV-positive. Her husband at the time - the couple no longer are together - had been married twice before, and both of his former wives died of AIDS.
Zulu was not expected to live past six months, but continues to fight the disease more than a decade later. Her book on the subject, "Why We Are Princess," is due out in December.
"Every day 740 children die because of AIDS, one every two minutes, and without treatment more than half will die before their second birthday," Zulu said. "So this (PMTCT) is critical, because the transfer of the virus is preventable. With proper care and treatment they don't have to be born with HIV and develop AIDS."
"It costs less than $4 to prevent mother-to-child transmission," Zulu said. "This should not still be happening in 2010."
World Vision is coordinating efforts to increase awareness of Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) programs while also encouraging Americans to call their congressmen to advocate that promised government funding actually happens.
"The global AIDS bill last year was re-approved to $37 billion, but it hasn't been fully funded," Urich said. "On paper it's supposed to happen, but a lot of things get cut in the legislative process."
World Vision also intends to work toward funneling funds toward Zambia, which is one of the African nations where PMTCT needs the most support. The goal is to make prevention efforts more of a priority.
