Publications on Children

For nearly three decades, HIV and AIDS have been devastating individuals and families with the tragedy of untimely death and medical, financial and social burdens. Although children's concerns have always been present within the great spectrum of need associated with HIV, they have to some extent been overshadowed by the very scale of the epidemic in the adult population.

Violence against women and their children (VAWC) occurring in intimate partner relationships in domestic situations is a serious problem. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that half of the women who died from homicide were killed by their current or former husbands and partners.

The 2010 guidelines are developed to provide international standards, primarily for low- and middle income settings, in support of the global scale-up of more effective interventions aimed at preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV (MTCT) in resource-limited settings.

The Ministry of Health detected 29 new HIV positive cases across the country in the last one year, taking the total number of detected cases to 246 (122 females and 124 males). Most infected are between 25 to 39 years - the most economically productive age groups.

The WHO guidelines Antiretroviral therapy for HIV infection in infants and children are based on a public health approach to HIV care. Updated in 2010, these guidelines are harmonized with the treatment guidelines adopted for adults, pregnant women, and for prevention of mother- to- child transmission (PMTCT). 

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPR Korea) Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS 2009) was carried out in 2009 by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) of DPR Korea with financial and technical support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

This study used household survey data from Cambodia, Thailand and Viet Nam to examine the situation of orphans relative to children in poverty regarding access to essential needs and services, focusing on basic material needs and education outcomes.

The Royal Government of Bhutan has adopted the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) as an integral part of the nation's response to the HIV/AIDS catastrophe. PMTCT will be a part of a wider response to HIV/AIDS, which includes expanding access to care and support for HIV infected mothers and their families, including treatment of opportunistic infections and accelerating access to treatment.

PMTCT in Nepal - Comprehensive PMTCT service started in Nepal from February 2005. - Government provides free ARV drugs and follow‐up testing for the baby free of cost from 18 months. - There are 17 PMTCT sites, of which 16 sites offer Pediatric ART and 5 sites provide CD4 testing onsite.

In the summer of 2009, the author visited a humble orphanage for children with HIV/AIDS in Vietnam. Here, like many parts in the world, the very existence of marginalized people with stigmatized illness is hidden away. Relegated to the shadows of society, these children lacked something more fundamental than housing, shelter, nutrition and medications. They lacked families to love and care for them unconditionally.