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Mani Djelassem, a 17-year-old who was born HIV-positive speaking at a UNICEF news conference earlier today AP/Press Association Images

Number of teenagers dying from AIDS has tripled since 2000

The figures from UNICEF show it to be the number two cause of death among teenagers worldwide.

THE NUMBER OF teenagers dying from AIDS has tripled in the last 15 years, a major new data set from UNICEF has found.

The disease is now the second leading cause of death among teenagers worldwide, and is the biggest killer of teenagers in Africa.

The international children’s organisation is highlighting the big increases in deaths ahead of World AIDS Day which falls on 1 December.

Speaking about the new data, head of UNICEF’s global HIV/AIDS programme Craig McClure said:

It is critical that young people who are HIV-positive have access to treatment, care and support… at the same time, those who are HIV-negative must have access to the knowledge and means to help them to stay that way.

How many teenagers are affected?

Currently there are around two million teenagers aged 15 to 19 living with the HIV virus.

Half of these live in only six countries: South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, India, Mozambique and Tanzania. 

Out of these, the infection rate is much higher among young females, accounting for around seven out of every 10 new infections.

The figures for those in the younger age category are also pretty shocking, with 2.6 million children aged 0 to 14 living with the condition in 2014.

Since the year 2000 UNICEF estimates that around 1.3 million infections among younger children have been averted – pointing to breakthroughs in the prevention of mother-to-child infections as the reason for this.

Read: “There is something profound about holding someone as they take their last breaths”

Also: “There are worse things than dying” – how Irish medical workers deal with the final journey

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17 Comments
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    Mute Gavin Power
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    Mar 7th 2022, 8:38 PM

    Meanwhile in Ireland, we cant cut turf, and are encouraged to drive EVs, as the Russian army moves 160000 troops with diesel, and aviation fuel, and fires missile after missile as Ukraine burns releasing toxic fumes into the air

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    Mute Vonvonic
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    Mar 7th 2022, 8:45 PM

    @Gavin Power: Comments like yours make me realise that we almost certainly won’t solve the climate change problem. We don’t have it in us.

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    Mute Quiet Goer
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    Mar 7th 2022, 9:03 PM

    Make sure you stock up on as much petrol as possible while its at €2+ per litre, the more you pay for it the more you’ll help cool the planet down. For extra planet-cooling effect leave the person behind the counter an extra tenner

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    Mute John Johnes
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    Mar 7th 2022, 9:19 PM

    @Quiet Goer: the mote tax we pay – the less co2 is produced in China! Taxes also cure cancer and allows you to live to a 100 years

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    Mute Paul Gorry
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    Mar 7th 2022, 9:58 PM

    @John Johnes: And if ye pay the higher rate of tax John, ye live even longer. Well said.

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    Mute Ned
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    Mar 7th 2022, 10:38 PM

    More of the same bla bla bla
    The climate change stuff has to take a backseat in the face of the issues facing the world today

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    Mute Joe_X
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    Mar 8th 2022, 12:00 AM

    @Ned: It is one of the bigger issues facing the world today, but not the one with the highest priority due to what is going on in eastern Europe. Another big problem with it is how our government are going the wrong way around in dealing with it, taxing what we do have, to force us to use systems that do not exist properly in the country, instead of getting the proper infrastructures in place for EVs and public transport fhrst, and then offering incentives to get people and businesses to use them. The funny thing is, concerning businesses at least, the infrastructures were there as where the bakery she worked in the late 60′s and early 70′s used electric vans and carts to deliver bread to the shops around Cork city. You can be sure they were not the only ones.

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    Mute Joe_X
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    Mar 8th 2022, 12:04 AM

    @Ned: sorry got a but ahead of myself there. The bakery in Cork was a place my mother worked years ago and they used EVs to get the bread to the shops around the city in the mornings, and the ICE vans did the country side runs

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