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The AAP supports federal action that would create and fund: * AIDS education programs
* Ongoing research
* Prevention and treatment methods
* Family planning services
* Access to quality health care which meets the special needs of all children affected by AIDS
The AAP says:
* The nation's schools should immediately initiate comprehensive health education to include AIDS education programs in grades K-12 (with candid emphasis in later grades).
* Athletes infected with AIDS should be allowed to participate in competitive sports.
* Most children with the AIDS virus should be allowed to attend school and day care in an unrestricted manner, with the approval of their physician.
* Mandatory AIDS screening should not be undertaken.
* The Academy recommends that teens at risk for the HIV infection be offered testing and that patient confidentiality be paramount.
* AIDS has become the fifth leading cause of death for children.
* As of December 1992, 249,199 cases of AIDS were reported to the CDC, including 4,249 cases in children under the age of 13, and 946 cases in adolescents age 13 through 19.
* Women, children and adolescents are the fastest growing HlV-infected populations, now accounting for over 13 percent of all AIDS cases reported in the U.S.
* Current studies suggest that one-third of infants born to HlV-infected mothers become infected themselves. It is not known why some of these infants become infected and the others do not.
* The AIDS epidemic will leave an estimated 72,000 to 125,000 children and adolescents motherless by the end of the decade.
* The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts that 93,000 to 112,000 healthy children will be born to HlV-infected mothers from 1992 to 2000.
Created 12/23/97 Last Updated 08/07/04
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