ETHIOPIA: UNICEF tackles spread of HIV to children

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday announced a new joint initiative to tackle mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia.

UNICEF said it had joined with the country's health ministry and the HIV/AIDS Prevention Control Office (HAPCO) to combat MTCT.

"The HIV/AIDS pandemic has had an overwhelming impact on the world's children. The majority of infections in children are passed from mother-to-child during pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding," UNICEF head in Ethiopia, Bjorn Ljungqvist said in a statement.

As many as 200,000 children in Ethiopia were living with HIV/AIDS, UNICEF noted.

Theme (s): Care/Treatment - PlusNews, Children, Other,

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]