Only a minority of pregnant women in Africa receive medications that would prevent them from transmitting HIV to their babies, according to a UNICEF report released Tuesday.

Children and AIDS: A Stocktaking says 2.3 million children under 15 are infected with HIV, and 15.2 million children under 18 have lost one or both parents to AIDS.

According to the report, the situation is slowly improving with some countries making changes to help children affected by HIV and AIDS, but there are still "huge gaps in progress" that require ongoing action.

It said one of 10 young pregnant women in the capital cities of sub-Saharan Africa is infected with HIV, and one in three children born to women infected with HIV will contract the virus.

Infection rates are highest in Botswana and Swaziland, where one in three young pregnant women is infected, and in Lesotho and South Africa, where one in four young pregnant women is infected, the report said.

UNICEF executive director Ann Veneman said there is an urgent need to help children affected by the disease.

"We must build momentum to achieve positive results for children," she said in a news release.

The report takes stock of action since 2005 to prevent the spread of AIDs and protect children from HIV around the world.

"It finds increasing numbers of children now receiving treatment as a result of improved testing, lower drug prices and simpler formulations," it said.

"…in several countries, behaviour change translated into declining HIV prevalence among young people. And the disparity between orphans and non-orphans in access to education has been reduced in several countries."

7 countries provided needed drugs

It says some countries in Eastern and Southern Africa have been able to reduce the number of HIV-infected women passing the virus onto their children.

In Namibia, the rate of access to drugs for pregnant women increased from six per cent in 2004 to 29 per cent from 2005. In Swaziland, it increased to 34 per cent from four per cent, and in South Africa, it rose to 30 per cent from 22 per cent.

Only seven countries — Argentina, Brazil, Botswana, Jamaica, Russia, Thailand and Ukraine — provided drug treatment in 2005 to at least 40 per cent of the pregnant women infected with HIV.

The report said countries had better results when they implemented a decentralized approach to providing services to women and children, and training of health-care workers, had a clear commitment to the problem and provided care for the entire family affected by the disease.

But the report said the numbers still paint a bleak picture:

• One in 10 pregnant women infected with HIV in low- to middle-income countries is receiving drugs that would prevent the transmission to their children.
• One in 10 children who need AIDS treatment receives it.
• One in 25 children born to mothers infected with HIV receives drugs that would prevent infections that could be fatal.
• Children who have lost both parents, whether to AIDS or another cause, are usually less likely to attend school than children with a single parent or with both parents.
• Fewer than one in three young people in sub-Saharan Africa has enough knowledge about HIV to protect them against the virus.

A year ago, UNICEF and a few other agencies launched the program Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS to highlight the "missing face of the child" in the AIDS pandemic.

It focused attention on the four Ps: preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV; providing pediatric treatment; preventing infection among adolescents and young people; protecting and supporting children affected by HIV and AIDS.

The report assesses what is being done around the world in these four areas.

According to the report, one-third of infected infants will die from AIDS before their first birthday and half will die before they turn two years old.

"What matters in the end are tangible results that are good for children: for their health, for their families, in the communities and throughout their lives," the report said.