Health GAP, together with Aidsfonds, GNP+, Réseau Grandir Ensemble, Coalition PLUS, Sidaction and other allies have launched a new call to action ‘Wake Up! our Children are Dying’ by taking the stage during a panel presentation by US Ambassador Deborah Birx at ICASA. A week later they continued to ask attention at the thematic session on Pediatrics and HIV at the UNAIDS PCB in December.

Activists from GNP+ were on site with signs and placards, ensuring that the call to action could not be ignored. In response, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima spoke out in support of the activists’ demands and called for increased funding in order to close the pediatric HIV treatment gap.

Worldwide 54% of children younger than 14 are not on HIV treatment. Without treatment, 50% of HIV positive newborns will die before they are 2 years old.

 

Treatment scale up rates for kids have stalled over the last decade, and in many countries, rates of pediatric HIV infection are on the rise. The Kigali declaration calls out to governments and multilateral donors to stop children needlessly dying without access to timely HIV diagnosis; durable, powerful, and affordable treatment. You can read the full call to action here.

Want to know more?

Check out Health GAP’s interview with activist and Executive Director of the Lean on Me Foundation Maurine Murenga about why she is fighting for pediatric treatment access.

Watch a Al Jazeera TV news clip from World AIDS Day about Hajjarah, a Ugandan woman living with HIV who experienced sub-standard care contributing to one of her two twins acquiring HIV. HEPS Uganda partner Kenneth Mwehonge calls out flat funding as a key driver denying women like Hajjarah access to point of care HIV testing they need.