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The data show that significant progress in the fight against HIV among children, adolescents and women has slowed down and will continue to do so without targeted action. Notable successes globally in HIV have been recorded in some areas, including prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) and increased awareness of the impact of HIV on adolescents.
However, for adolescents, improved and systematic ways to prevent new infections and to detect and treat HIV continue to be needed. And while responses to PMTCT were successful, they struggled to maintain momentum in the "last mile" of eliminating vertical transmission.
Inequalities in HIV treatment and prevention, as well as access and coverage between adults and adolescents and children, persist. The HIV epidemic will not end without dramatic progress in treatment and prevention for all, including the most vulnerable children, adolescents and pregnant women living with HIV.
Global estimates for 2017 highlight trends that could hinder continued progress in eliminating HIV as a threat to public health. The need for more effective HIV services for adolescents is illustrated by a drop of only 17% between 2010 and 2017 in the estimated number of new HIV infections among adolescents aged 10 to 19 years. Estimates indicate that improvements in PMTCT are also slowing. After having increased sharply from 51% in 2010 to 77% in 2013, the overall coverage rate for PMTCT has changed very little between 2014 and 2017. A similar trend is observed with regard to the annual number of new HIV infections. HIV vertical: less than 11% The 100% decrease in infections between 2014 and 2017 is well below the 21% decrease recorded in the previous three years.
The consequences of these two trends are particularly felt in sub-Saharan Africa, which is home to 87% of the 3 million children and adolescents aged 0 to 19 years living with HIV worldwide in 2017. The sustainability of the future response to HIV rests on keeping these children and adolescents in virally-treated care and repression as they reach adulthood. Priority should be given to services and interventions for girls and members of key populations.
While coverage of maternal antiretroviral treatment among pregnant women living with HIV has increased, the sustainability of PMTCT services, where coverage is greater than 90%, is essential. Efforts to keep women living with HIV under care after childbirth include regular testing for them and their children throughout the breastfeeding period.
Of course, prevention and treatment of HIV are closely linked because effective treatment
has important preventive effects. But for children, their mothers and their teenagers, a
The major concern is the lack of knowledge about their HIV status. The benefits of treatment are
possible only after an HIV diagnosis. Improved responses are based on increased awareness
HIV and vulnerability, particularly among adolescents, and on better access to
use of HIV testing opportunities.
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