As World AIDS Day takes place on 1 December, more than 1,000 Compassion-assisted children in Africa have been confirmed as being HIV-positive. Currently it is estimated that 40 million people worldwide are infected with the HIV virus; 2.3 million of them are children.
Compassion, a leading Christian child sponsorship charity, is working with some of the world's most vulnerable children. The Compassion AIDS Initiative responds to this need by providing prevention, treatment and rehabilitative care for children.
One powerful feature of the initiative is antiretroviral (ARV) therapy, explains Compassion. The medicine prevents HIV from replicating in the body which allows the immune system to recover and defend against other infections.
"There is no doubt these children would have died without these treatments," said Dr Scott Todd, Director of Compassion's Aids Initiative. "This programme lifts the death sentence that once accompanied the diagnosis of Aids."
