The ‘Four Ps’: Goal of the Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS Initiative

The ‘Four Ps’: Goal of the Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS Initiative

The Global Campaign, Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS, launched in October 2005, is a concerted effort by the international community to ensure that children and adolescents are effectively included in HIV and AIDS prevention, protection and treatment strategies. The campaign provides a child-focused framework for nationally owned programmes around four main areas, known as the 'Four Ps': 1) Prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV; 2) Provide paediatric treatment; 3) Prevent infection among adolescents and young people; and 4) Protect and support children affected by AIDS.

IMPROVED HIV AND AIDS ESTIMATES: EXPLANATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

In 2010, UNAIDS released new global HIV and AIDS estimates in the 2010 Report on the global AIDS epidemic , showing changes in the estimated number of persons living with HIV worldwide, new infections and in AIDS-related deaths. These estimates were derived from a more refined estimation methodology based on adjustments to mathematical models increasingly using new population-based survey data. Findings from these surveys, combined with data from an extended network of sentinel surveillance sites in a number of key countries, are also providing a greater understanding of HIV epidemiology. These advances are helping UNICEF to better monitor and care for the situation of children and adolescents.

As a result of these changes, comparisons between 2009 estimates and those from previous years cannot be made. The methodological revisions, however, have been applied retrospectively to all earlier HIV prevalence data, so that the estimates of incidence, prevalence and mortality from previous years allow an assessment of trends over time.

Although the estimates have changed, the qualitative interpretation of the severity and implications of the pandemic has altered little. However, as the resources committed to AIDS and other major health problems continue to increase, more emphasis is required to strengthen systems to collect and analyse data for better quality information to strategically guide programming.

More details on the HIV estimates methodology can be found at the UNAIDS's website.