MEXICO CITY, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- A professor with the Human Sciences Research Council (HRSC) in South Africa made a call Wednesday to the world community to step up the fight against HIV among children.

    During the 17th International Aids Conference 2008 taking place in Mexico City, Linda Richter said most HIV positive children had been infected through mother-child transmission.

    Despite recent progress, services to prevent mother-child transmission in low and medium income countries, and whose effectiveness has been demonstrated for more than 10 years, only reaches one third of those in need, Richter said.

    Richter said children living with HIV have less access to treatment than adults do in the same environment, and that only around 10 percent of these children worldwide receive an anti-retroviral treatment.

    According to Richter, there are severe deficiencies in the data about children with HIV and existing evidence is frequently overlooked.

    "The poorest families face the worse effects of the pandemic, having to finance the medical attention of the sick and taking care of their families and friends, by eating less and spending less in education and health," Richter said.