Today is World AIDS Day, so I’m continuing my tradition of sharing stories and statistics about parents and children with HIV/AIDS. Even in the fourth decade of its existence, the disease continues to shatter lives and decimate communities.
First, two resources for stories about (mostly LGBTQ) parents with AIDS:
- Abigail Garner, author of the highly recommended Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell It Like It Is
, has posted several excerpts from its chapter on AIDS. She includes stories of children growing up with gay parents during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, advice on how to support children with HIV-positive parents, and tips on how both HIV-positive and HIV-negative gay parents themselves can talk with their children about their status and how they are protecting themselves.
- The Recollectors, a storytelling and community-building site for those who have lost parents to AIDS, has posted numerous new stories. (See my interview with one of the two founders, both of whom had gay dads.)
Let’s not forget, however, the still-sobering worldwide statistics about mothers and children of all orientations and identities (statistics about fathers and AIDS seem harder to find). According to UNICEF:
Of the estimated 37.9 million [confidence bounds: 32.7-44.0 million] people living with HIV worldwide in 2018, 2.8 million [2.0-3.8 million] were children aged 0-19. Each day in 2018, approximately 980 children became infected with HIV and approximately 320 children died from AIDS related causes, mostly because of inadequate access to HIV prevention, care and treatment services.
As of 2018, roughly 14.9 million [11.3-19.1 million] children under the age of 18 had lost one or both parents to AIDS. Millions more have been affected by the epidemic, through a heightened risk of poverty, homelessness, school dropout, discrimination and loss of opportunities. These hardships include prolonged illness and death. Of the estimated 770,000 [570,000-1.1 million] people who died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2018, 120,000 [75,900-180,000] (or approximately 15 per cent) of them were children under 20 years of age.
In 2018, around 160,000 [110,000-260,000] children aged 0-9 were newly infected with HIV, bringing the total number of children aged 0-9 living with HIV to 1.1 million [870,000-1.5 million]. Nearly 90 per cent of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa. One bright spot on the global horizon is the rapid decline of approximately 41 per cent in new HIV infections among children aged 0-9 since 2010 due to stepped-up efforts to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. However, the number of new HIV infections among adolescents (aged 10-19) has declined at a far slower rate of about 24 per cent.
Here’s UNICEF’s full report on Children, HIV and AIDS, for those who want to learn more or see a regional breakdown. UNICEF’s Children and AIDS site also has more information on various initiatives related to children, youth, and mothers, as well as toolkits and other resources.
The Trump administration is no friend to those living with AIDS in the U.S. or around the world. That puts the burden doubly on the rest of us to honor those lost to the disease, recommit to supporting those living with AIDS, and help those working to end it. Our efforts are needed now as much as ever.