Is it the end of AIDS in 2030?

UNICEF’s new global data showed AIDS is now the top cause of death among teenagers in Africa. “By bringing them out, we’re able to help them help themselves accessing treatment that is life saving but in addition that stops HIV transmission”. And that only 1 in 3 of the 2.6 million children under the age of 15 living with HIV are on treatment.

The size of the HIV population in Malawi has been stable for the last 10 years as a result of the concurrent decline in new infections and AIDS death rates.

For adolescents who did not contract the disease at birth, though, there are 26 new HIV infections each hour for African teens aged 15-19, according to UNICEF, with girls comprising 70% of those infected.

ECDC spokeswoman Caroline Daamen said “eastern Europe” referred to the eastern part of WHO’s European Region, where the organisations said the number of new HIV cases had more than doubled in the past decade.

Among adolescents in that age group in the region, just over 1 in 10are tested for HIV.

Citing an example, she said that by the end of 2014, Thailand had tested and enrolled more than 60 percent of its people living with HIV into treatment.

These children have survived into their teenage years, sometimes without knowing their HIV status, ” UNICEF said.

Some teenagers who have died of AIDS-related diseases acquired it during infancy, according to UNICEF’s data.

In the EU, as well as in countries that are members of the European Economic Area (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), sex between men is the predominant cause of HIV transmission.

“With each passing year, science provides us with new tools, and experience on the ground informs our approach, making ending AIDS by 2030 a real possibility”, Unicef said, in the report.

Recent findings from clinical trials have confirmed that the early and expanded use of antiretroviral treatment saves lives by keeping people living with HIV healthier and by reducing the risk that they will transmit the virus to partners. A report of United Nations agencies showed that AIDS is the top killer of teenagers in Africa.

While the gains made in preventing transmission from mother to child are laudable and should be celebrated, immediate investments are essential to get life-saving treatments for adolescents and children who are infected.