AIDS and Children -- A Texas Victory, a World Crisis

"In the 1990s, the United States declared war on mother-to-child HIV infections.

"It made a difference. Just last week, for example, Catholic Charities shut its child care center for HIV-positive preschool children in Fort Worth because so few children have the virus.

"For the rest of the world, that day of celebration is, at best, a hope. UN officials warned last week that the world will lose ground in the overall war against HIV and AIDS unless nations make a priority of protecting children from the disease. ...

"... In the United States, rapid drug intervention, a sophisticated health care network, public education and government commitments virtually eliminated mother-to-child transmissions.

"However, in the most infection-plagued regions ... mother-to-child infections inexplicably continue to take a lower priority in the overall HIV/AIDS battle. In sub-Saharan Africa, less than 2 percent of children with HIV receive needed drugs, compared to 11 percent of adults, partly out of the fear that children won't live long enough to justify treatment costs.

"HIV and AIDS infections continue to steal the future of many nations in a horrible cycle that perpetuates generational poverty, illiteracy and despair.

"Limiting the transmission of the disease from mother to child, curbing its spread among young people and dealing with the social consequences of a nation of AIDS orphans are just as important as the traditional health care strategy to target high-risk sexual behavior among adults.

"UN officials estimate that it will take at least $55 billion over the next three years if the world is to make significant progress toward the goal of slowing new infections by 2015. That's probably true, and the nations of the world must step up to meet pledges to fight the infections.

"But in the fight, the youngest and most vulnerable must not be forgotten. ..."

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