[child-rights] Precious time has been lost, as HIV/AIDS soars in CEE/CIS and Baltics

UNICEF Press Centre
Press Release

"PRECIOUS TIME HAS BEEN LOST," SAYS UNICEF, AS HIV/AIDS SOARS IN
CEE/CIS AND BALTICS

NEW YORK, 18 September 2002 - HIV/AIDS is spreading at a faster rate
in parts of Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CEE/CIS) than anywhere else in the world, says
UNICEF in a new report, The Social Monitor. The report, tracking the
well-being of children and young people in the region, warns that
HIV/AIDS is the greatest threat to their health as it moves -
virtually unchecked - into the mainstream population in a number of
countries.

"The implications for the region's economic growth and social
stability - which are so dependent on its young people - are
alarming," said Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF.
"HIV/AIDS has a young face in this region. Young people account for
most new infections and their low levels of HIV awareness, combined
with increasingly risky behaviour, herald a catastrophe. It is clear
that the gravity of the situation has been underestimated and that
precious time has been lost. Without immediate and radical action,
there is little to stop the spread of the disease."

In the CIS, almost 80% of new infections were registered among people
under 29 between 1997 and 2000. In Estonia, the report finds, 38% of
newly registered infections are among those aged under 20, and 90%
among people under 30 years of age.

The report, produced by the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre in
Florence, points to the growth in substance abuse, particularly drug
injection, the earlier sexual activity of young people, and the
growing numbers of sex workers as the underlying reasons for the
rapid spread of the disease in some countries.

By the end of 2001, there were an estimated one million people with
HIV/AIDS in the region, up from 420,000 in 1998. Newly registered
cases increased more than five-fold between 1998 and 2001. Two
countries, Russia and Ukraine, account for 90% of the region's
estimated HIV/AIDS cases, but Estonia now has the region's highest
rate of new HIV infections, with more than one in every 1,000 people
infected in 2001 - almost 20 times the average EU rate. HIV is also
spreading rapidly in Latvia and Kazakhstan, and the number of cases
is rising again in Ukraine and Moldova. While data suggest little
growth in HIV/AIDS in Central and South-Eastern Europe, there is no
room for complacency.

The majority of infections in the region are among injecting drug
users, but as The Social Monitor reveals, there is increasing sexual
transmission in countries such as Belarus and Ukraine where HIV made
its first appearance in the region. In Belarus, 8% of new infections
in 1996 were attributed to sexual transmission. By the first half of
2001, that proportion had soared to 32%.

The high prevalence of other sexually transmitted infections, such as
syphilis and gonorrhoea, suggest that conditions are ripe for the
further spread of HIV. And the rising proportion of infections among
women, who are less likely to be injecting drug users, is another
sign of increasing sexual transmission. Women accounted for 25% of
officially registered infections in the CIS countries between 1997
and 2000.

Meanwhile, says the report, awareness about HIV prevention remains
far lower - even in the worst-hit countries - than in Western Europe.
While a UNICEF opinion poll found that teenagers in the region
mention condom use most frequently as a way to avoid infection,
awareness of condom use as a means of prevention remains
significantly lower than in Western European countries. Fewer than
70% of teenagers in Belarus, Ukraine, or Latvia are aware of condoms
as a means of protection, compared to 97% in France and 87% in
Germany. Where awareness of condom use as a means of prevention is
low, awareness of other safeguards, such as sexual abstinence or the
avoidance of injected drugs, is also low.

"We are seeing the spread of HIV/AIDS into the mainstream population
in the countries that were first affected. Our fear is that we may be
seeing the same scenario in other countries in the near future," said
Bellamy. "We need immediate action, building on the good work that
has already been done."

According to the Social Monitor, national responses to HIV in some of
the worst affected countries, such as Russia, Belarus and Ukraine,
have not had enough impact. But small-scale projects in these
countries are changing the behaviour of those in high-risk groups and
attitudes towards those affected and could provide models for future
action. The most successful are tailored to the needs of those from
high-risk groups and run in consultation with them. The report also
cites countries such as Poland, Lithuania and Kyrgyzstan, which took
early action to confront HIV/AIDS. Building on these experiences, the
report highlights areas for immediate policy action to curb the
spread of the disease:

   *  Raise awareness of HIV and prevention, not only by informing
     young people but also by involving them in awareness-raising
     campaigns and peer education;
   *  Ensure that schools address HIV more openly, including in life
     skills education;
   *  Ensure a stronger gender focus and targeted policies to reach
     those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds;
   *  Build accessible and youth-friendly health care and advisory
     services;
   *  Create effective systems to track the epidemic;
   *  Foster more inclusive attitudes towards those infected and those
     at high risk.

"The region has great assets in its fight against HIV/AIDS," said
Bellamy. "It has projects that are making a difference, extensive
health-care services and a literate population. We can build on these
strengths and on the commitments made by world leaders just five
months ago at the UN Special Session on Children. They pledged to
support the fight against HIV/AIDS, which must be won if we are to
build a world fit for children - a world based on the right of every
child and young person to physical, emotional and economic
well-being."

The Social Monitor also highlights recent economic and demographic
trends in the region, with growing economies and falling child
populations providing an opportunity to invest in education and to
tackle child poverty, child institutionalization and social
exclusion, as well as HIV/AIDS.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

Today sees the launch of the UNICEF CEE/CIS and Baltics website, with
information on every country in the region, including 'the big
picture' of the overall situation, UNICEF programmes, latest
statistics and a range of features. Go to
www.unicef.org/programme/highlights/cee

The Social Monitor is produced by the UNICEF Innocenti Research
Centre in Florence. Embargoed media materials, including short
features, background information and downloadable copies of the
report in English and Russian, are available from the IRC Newsroom:
http://www.unicef-icdc.org/cgi-bin/unicef/presscentre/newsroom_top.sql

Overcoming HIV/AIDS is an UNICEF priority, alongside girls'
education, integrated early childhood development, immunization
'plus' and increased protection of children from violence, abuse,
exploitation and discrimination.

For further information, contact:

Karuna Nundy, UNICEF Media, New York, e-mail: knundy@unicef.org,
tel: + 1 212 303 7941

Angela Hawke, UNICEF Regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe
and the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltic States,
e-mail: ahawke@unicef.org, tel: (4122) 909 5607

Patrick McCormick, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre,
e-mail: pmccormick@unicef.org tel: (39 055) 203 3354