A heated debate is under way over how money should be allocated to fight illnesses that affect young children in developing countries. While much headway has been made in the fight against HIV/AIDS, children continue to perish from simple dehydration.

• The U.S. is receiving increased scrutiny from UNICEF and other humanitarian organizations about the percentage of foreign aid that goes to fighting childhood AIDS as opposed to other diseases that afflict children in the developing world.
• President Obama has promised to put more emphasis on child and maternal health but has simultaneously committed to increase money given to fight AIDS.
• Leaders in the movement to fight AIDS in Africa, such as Jeffrey Sachs, suggest that other Western nations focus on different global health priorities, since the U.S. is spending so much on AIDS specifically.

Facts & Figures

• Diarrhea kills 1.5 million children a year in developing nations – more than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined.
• Oral rehydration salts cost literally pennies, but only 4 in 10 children suffering from dehydration in developing countries receive this simple treatment.
• In Africa’s two most populous nations, Nigeria and Ethiopia, 540,000 children under the age of 5 died of pneumonia and diarrhea in 2007, which is more than twice the total number of people who died of AIDS.

Best Quote:

“AIDS is still underfunded, no question. But maternal, newborn and child mortality is tremendous tragedy and gets peanuts.” – Jeremy Shiffman, Political Scientist at Syracuse University

Tags: AIDS, developing countries, Health, HIV