Use HIV’s lessons to help children orphaned by COVID-19

Kidman, Rachel

doi:10.1038/d41586-021-02155-9

COMMENT
09 August 2021

Use HIV’s lessons to help children orphaned by COVID-19

Young people who have lost parents to the pandemic need urgent support and long-term study to avert the cascade of adversity that can follow. Decades of research into the HIV epidemic provide a solid foundation.

Rachel Kidman⁰

Rachel Kidman
1. Rachel Kidman is core faculty in the Program in Public Health and associate professor in the Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA.
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I have spent my career studying how the HIV epidemic affects children. One profound way is through the death of one or both parents — the United Nations definition of an orphan. As of 2020, about 15 million children and adolescents, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, had lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS. These youngsters face immense challenges. Through decades of research, the field is slowly learning how to help them lead healthy lives and succeed in school.

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Nature 596, 185-188 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02155-9

References

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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[1] Kidman, R., Margolis, R., Smith-Greenaway, E. & Verdery, A. M. JAMA Pediatr. 175, 745–746 (2021).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[2] Hillis, S. D. et al. Lancet 398, 391–402 (2021).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[3] Bergman, A.-S., Axberg, U. & Hanson, E. BMC Palliat. Care 16, 39 (2017).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[4] Kidman, R. & Palermo, T. Child Abuse Negl. 51, 172–180 (2016).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[5] Chi, P. & Li, X. AIDS Behav. 17, 2554–2574 (2013).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[6] Cluver, L. D., Orkin, M., Gardner, F. & Boyes, M. E. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 53, 363–370 (2012).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[7] Case, A., Paxson, C. & Ableidinger, J. Demography 41, 483–508 (2004).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[8] Guldin, M.-B. et al. JAMA Psychiatry 72, 1227–1234 (2015).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[9] Shonkoff, J. P., Boyce, W. T. & McEwen, B. S. JAMA 301, 2252–2259 (2009).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[10] UNICEF. Averting a Lost COVID Generation: A Six-Point Plan to Respond, Recover and Reimagine a Post-Pandemic World for Every Child (UNICEF, 2020).
Google Scholar

[11] Kidman, R., Piccolo, L. R. & Kohler, H.-P. Am. J. Prev. Med. 58, 285–293 (2020).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[12] Nyberg, B. J. et al. JAIDS J. Acquir. Immune Defic. Syndr. 60, S127–S135 (2012).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[13] Laumann, L. Cash Plus Care 2.0: Leveraging USG OVC And Dreams Programs To Improve Use Of Cash Transfers For Children’s Well-Being (USAID, 2019).
Google Scholar

[14] Roelen, K. Policy in Focus 15, 20–21 (2018).
Google Scholar

[15] Sherr, L., Macedo, A., Tomlinson, M., Skeen, S. & Cluver, L. D. BMC Pediatr. 17, 123 (2017).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[16] Thomas, T., Tan, M., Ahmed, Y. & Grigorenko, E. L. Ann. Behav. Med. 54, 853–866 (2020).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[17] Evans, D. K., Gale, C. & Kosec, K. The Educational Impacts of Cash Transfers for Children with Multiple Indicators of Vulnerability (Center for Global Development, 2021).
Google Scholar

[18] Shangani, S. et al. PLoS ONE 12, e0178076 (2017).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[19] Weaver, D. A. Popul. Rev. 58, 23–60 (2019).
Google Scholar

[20] Bethell, C., Jones, J., Gombojav, N., Linkenbach, J. & Sege, R. JAMA Pediatr. 173, e193007 (2019).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[21] Sandler, I., Ingram, A., Wolchik, S., Tein, J.-Y. & Winslow, E. Child Dev. Perspect. 9, 164–171 (2015).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[22] Melhem, N. M., Porta, G., Shamseddeen, W., Walker Payne, M. & Brent, D. A. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 68, 911–919 (2011).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[23] Ventevogel, P. & Spiegel, P. JAMA 314, 511–512 (2015).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[24] Ssewamala, F. M., Han, C.-K. & Neilands, T. B. Soc. Sci. Med. 69, 191–198 (2009).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[25] Sandler, I. N., Wolchik, S. A., Ayers, T. S., Tein, J.-Y. & Luecken, L. Fam. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1080/19424620.2013.821763 (2013).
Article Google Scholar

[26] Umberson, D. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 114, 915–920 (2017).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[27] Evans, D. K. & Popova, A. Lancet 385, 945–946 (2015).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

Use HIV’s lessons to help children orphaned by COVID-19

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Jobs

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