2.7 Million Nigerian Youths Have HIV – UNICEF 

The UN agency warned that ending AIDS in children and adolescents will continue to be a distant dream unless inequalities are addressed.

The United Nations Children’s Fund says about 310,000 people were newly infected with HIV in 2021, bringing the total number of young people living with HIV worldwide to 2.7 million last year.

UNICEF said around 110,000 children and adolescents aged 0 and 19 died of AIDS-related cases in 2021.
This was disclosed in a statement to commemorate World AIDS Day on December 1, 2022.

UNICEF said progress in HIV prevention and treatment for children, adolescents, and pregnant women had nearly flatlined over the past three years.

“Around 110,000 children and adolescents (0-19 years) died from AIDs-related causes during 2021, according to the latest UNICEF global snapshot on children and HIV and AIDS,” it said.

UNICEF added, “Meanwhile, another 310,000 were newly infected, bringing the total number of young people living with HIV to 2.7 million.”

The UN agency warned that ending AIDS in children and adolescents will continue to be a distant dream unless inequalities are addressed.

“Between 2014 and 2021, the number of new infections among children and adolescents aged 0 to 14 decreased globally by roughly 27%, but it rose by 13% in Nigeria. Unless the drivers of inequities are addressed,” UNICEF said, noting that HIV cases among younger children aged 0 and 14 dropped to 52 percent from 2010 to 2021.

The agency revealed that new infections among adolescents aged 15 and 19 dropped by 40 percent.

UNICEF added that treatment for HIV cases among pregnant women increased to 81 percent globally while it declined from 57 percent to 34 percent in Nigeria.