Blame and Banishment: new UNICEF report on children affected by HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

The current economic and political crises in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have revealed crumbling social safety nets when confronted with economic hardship. Children and young people living with HIV/AIDS face social exclusion in the only region where infection rates remain clearly on the rise. A new report by UNICEF launched at the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria, revealed the region is badly off track to meet MDG 6, which calls for halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.

In July 2010, in Vienna, at the XVIII International AIDS Conference, UNICEF launched a report on the social exclusion of children and young people affected by HIV and AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, titled “Blame and Banishment”.

The report entitled “Blame and Banishment” highlights the underlying causes of the HIV/AIDS epidemic that are unique to Eastern Europe and Central Asia, states that the access to antiretroviral treatment in the region is still among the lowest in the world, and stigma and discrimination that violate the basic rights and dignity of people affected by HIV, including children, are hampering further progress

The report gathers the experiences of children, families and young people living with HIV and emphasizes the need for a paradigm shift, from blame and exclusion to acceptance and inclusion. It also shows the systemic failures in responding to the needs of the more vulnerable sector of the population and outlines some good practices.

Learn more on the report at: www.unicef.org/infobycountry/austria_54605.html