The executive director of Unicef has lauded a recent decision by the Irish Government to dedicate a percentage of foreign aid to fighting Aids in children.
Appealing for more funds for children with HIV, the virus that causes Aids, Ann Veneman, executive director of Unicef, said she hoped the world would follow Ireland's example to dedicate 20 per cent of funds for fighting Aids to helping children with the disease.
Ms Veneman is hoping for $33 billion over the next five years from existing commitments and additional funds.
"Every minute of every day a child dies of Aids, but only 5 per cent of those infected have access to life-preserving drugs," she added.
"Nearly 25 years into the pandemic, this very visible disease continues to have an invisible face and that is the face of the child," Ms Veneman told a news conference on the eve of the campaign, "Unite for Children, Unite Against Aids."
"A whole generation of young people today has never known a world free of HIV and Aids," she said. "It is a disease that has redefined their childhood forcing them to grow up alone too fast, or sadly sometimes not at all."
The campaign is aimed at treating children with antiretroviral drugs and preventing pregnant women from transmitting the virus.
More than 39 million people, most of them in Africa, are living with the disease, despite $8 billion in anticipated spending this year, Dr Peter Piot, the head of Unaids, said earlier this year. He said only 12 per cent of adults and children who needed treatment were getting it.