HIV and AIDS
Envisioning an AIDS-free generation where all children and their families are protected from HIV infection.
UNICEF is committed to meeting global targets to end AIDS among children, adolescents and pregnant women. In the last three decades, UNICEF has contributed to remarkable progress made in the HIV/AIDS response, including scale-up of treatment to prevent vertical mother-to-child transmission of HIV, reduced new HIV infections among children and adolescents and greater data and analysis to inform evidence-based investments and programmes. But while progress has been made in the HIV response, data show that children and adolescents are faring worse than adults.
4,000 adolescent girls and young women became infected with HIV, every week in 2022.Most new HIV infections in children and adolescents occur in sub-Saharan Africa, though inequities persist in all regions and low-prevalence settings. To end unnecessary deaths and break the cycle of new infections, children, adolescents, and pregnant women must have access to quality prevention services, testing, treatment, care, and support. Ending AIDS requires a strong integration and leveraging of primary healthcare, and continued work across and with other sectors, especially to address structural factors – gender inequality, lack of education, violence and poverty that put people, especially adolescent girls and young women, at risk of HIV.
While the progress in HIV response has been promising, children continue to be affected by the epidemic.
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Over 2.5 million children and adolescents are living with HIV. Sub-Saharan Africa carries the global burden of the epidemic.
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Only 57% of children 0-14 years living with HIV are receiving ART compared to 77% of all adults living with HIV.
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50% of children born with HIV will die before their second birthday without treatment.
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Although children only account for 4% of all people living with HIV, 13% of AIDS-related deaths occur in children.
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75% of new infections among adolescents and young people in sub-Saharan Africa are among girls and young women.
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HIV is a leading cause of death among adolescents and young people in sub-Saharan Africa, even though we have the knowledge and tools to save their lives.
UNICEF's response
UNICEF is committed to ending AIDS by 2030, in line with global targets. Our teams in countries, regional offices and globally work to ensure that the most effective, equitable and sustainable HIV-related interventions are human rights-based. We work in more than 190 countries and territories with a range of partners at all levels, from grassroots organizations to governments to global partners in HIV response.
Preventing new HIV infections and improving access to testing and treatment saves lives and are the pillars of UNICEF’s HIV response. Making sustainable gains in this work requires increased commitment, better policies, and more funds at the global, regional and national levels.
UNICEF’s HIV and AIDS programme
UNICEF’s core objectives in the HIV response focus on reaching the most vulnerable and include:
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Eliminating vertical transmission of HIV and triple elimination of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis.
UNICEF works to ensure a coordinated approach towards the goal of achieving and sustaining triple elimination of mother-to-child transmission by promoting collaboration among health programmes that address maternal newborn child health, hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections and immunization. UNICEF works to ensure that every infant is free of HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis and that mothers living with HIV have access to services to keep them alive and stop the transmission of HIV to their babies. -
Closing the treatment gap through timely initiation of treatment for children and adolescents living with HIV and retaining them in care.
Without treatment, half the babies living with HIV will die before their second birthdays. Early testing in infants and linking them to treatment is the priority for babies exposed to HIV. However, some lab tests can take weeks for a mother to receive the result of her baby’s HIV status. UNICEF is scaling up innovations including point-of-care diagnostics allowing infants to be tested and initiated on treatment the same day, removing long wait times for results and repeat visits to clinics for mothers, and improving the health of the baby. -
Preventing HIV in adolescent girls and young women and improving sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR).
UNICEF promotes a combination of biomedical, behavioural and structural interventions to reduce HIV infections among adolescent girls and boys, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), HIV self-testing, HIV-sensitive protection services and mobile communication to improve access to treatment and care. UNICEF is working to sustain and leverage these HIV prevention efforts through broader SRHR service platforms with a focus on strengthening health systems by: using evidence to inform policies and programmes; influencing government policies, plans & strategies; improving service delivery; strengthening social support; and fostering multi-sectoral linkages and programming. -
Reducing stigma and discrimination for adolescents and key populations is a critical part of our work with children and adolescents.
UNICEF works to reduce stigma and discrimination against adolescents living with HIV and among key adolescent populations, especially those most marginalised in low-prevalence settings, and to ensure the protection and advancements of their rights to essential services.
An inclusive HIV response
UNICEF has consistently sought to place children at the very heart of the global response to HIV. Since 2000, the number of new paediatric infections has decreased significantly, but this is the moment for renewed global efforts to reach the last mile to end AIDS in children by 2030.
To make sure that happens, UNICEF employs a number of key strategies and approaches:
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Generate and use data and evidence to better target our efforts.
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Convene partners, such as in the Global Alliance to End AIDS among children and adolescents, and the UNAIDS Joint Programme to build strategic policy collaboration and influence.
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Leverage global resources for HIV so that investments reach children, adolescents and pregnant women.
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Engage across sectors to integrate HIV services with primary healthcare, schools, and other platforms. In the health sector, this means optimizing PHC platforms at scale to bring HIV services closer to women and children and leveraging community platforms to improve health and nutrition more broadly, provide mental health/psychosocial support, and address gender-based violence.
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Empower adolescents, especially adolescent girls to lead programmes that meet their needs and drive change.
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Innovate so that governments can access sustainable solutions using new technologies to end AIDS.
The investments made in the last decades show progress is possible. UNICEF continues to be well positioned to support governments and partners to overcome the stubborn obstacles that make HIV a persistent threat to the health and well-being of children and adolescents.