Thanks to a desire on the part of governments and partners, progress is being made in the delivery of prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV services for women.

The urgency is clear. An estimated 370,000 children were newly infected with HIV in 2007, mainly through mother-to-child transmission. Without treatment, one out of two infected infants will die before age 2.

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An estimated 2 million children under 15 are living with HIV. The virus progresses rapidly in children, with an estimated one third of HIV-positive infants dying by the time they reach their first birthday and half dying by their second birthday. In 2007 alone, an estimated 270,000 children died of AIDS-related causes. The vast majority of these deaths were preventable, either through treating opportunistic infections with antibiotics such as cotrimoxazole or through antiretroviral treatment (ART).

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It is estimated that more than 10 million young people between ages 15 and 24 are infected with HIV. Prevalence rates are highest in sub-Saharan Africa and higher among young women than young men in the region. In Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya, for example, there are five infected young women for every infected young man; corresponding ratios are 4 to 1 in Uganda and 3 to 1 in several countries, including Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

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Globally, as of 2007, an estimated 15.2 million children had lost one or both parents to AIDS. Some 80 per cent of these children – about 12 million – live in sub-Saharan Africa. It is estimated that by 2010 more than 20 million children will have been orphaned by AIDS.

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