Wars, AIDS Are Threats to Kids’ Gains, Study Says

After a century of advancements that have improved children’s lives worldwide, growing conflicts and the spread of AIDS threaten to reverse gains for the poorest children, according to a UNICEF report released today.

In the last 100 years, smallpox has been eradicated. Widespread iodine supplements have eliminated a major cause of mental retardation. Most children receive a basic education. Millions of children have been freed from labor. And in a critical indicator of children’s well-being, the mortality rate for children under 5 is declining in developing nations.

But war, poverty and the spread of AIDS are major obstacles to these advancements, UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said in an interview.

Despite a $30-trillion global economy, 600 million children live on less than a dollar a day. About 130 million children--two-thirds of them girls--are denied quality education. Child laborers number 250 million. And millions of people are targeted by military action that increasingly focuses on civilians.

“The impact of HIV-AIDS and of conflict is in some places now not just slowing the gains but also has the potential for reversing the gains,” Bellamy said.

Every minute, five young people are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.