Kathmandu, October 25:

UNICEF, UNAIDS and other partners have launched a global campaign — Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS — at the United Nations in the presence of the UN secretary general Kofi Annan, UNICEF executive director Ann M Veneman and UNAIDS executive director Peter Piot, according to a statement issued here today.

The campaign is based on internationally agreed goals by 2010 — to provide 80 per cent of women access to services to prevent transmission of HIV to their babies, to provide antiretroviral treatment and cotrimoxazole to 80 per cent of the children in need, to reduce the percentage of young people living with HIV by 25 per cent and to reach 80 per cent of children most in need of public support and services.

According to the UNICEF, children must be at the forefront of the fight against AIDS. According to UNAIDS, $ 55 billion will be needed over the next three years, $ 22 billion in 2008 alone, to confront the AIDS pandemic. There is currently a funding gap of at least $ 18 billion from 2005-07.