In Dar Es Salaam on 1 February 2023 Ministers and representatives from twelve African countries have committed themselves, and laid out their plans, to end AIDS in children by 2030. International partners have set out how they would support countries in delivering on those plans, which were issued at the first ministerial meeting of the Global Alliance to end AIDS in children.

One of the most glaring disparities of the AIDS response to date is the failure to provide life-saving treatment to children and adolescents living with HIV. While 81% of pregnant women living with HIV and 76% of adults overall were receiving antiretrovirals in 2021, only 52% of children (0-14 years) were accessing ART. 

Concerned by the stalling of progress for children, and the widening gap between children and adults, UNAIDS, UNICEF, WHO and partners have brought together a global alliance to ensure that no child living with HIV is denied treatment by the end of the decade and to prevent new infant HIV infections.

The Alliance will measure progress towards the bold targets of the SDGs and focus on the priority actions for children defined in the new Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026. Furthermore, it will seek to apply the lessons learned from the Global Plan and the the Start Free Stay Free AIDS Free Partnership (3-Frees)  framework to amplify what worked and avoid some of the pitfalls of past initiatives. The work of the Alliance will be aligned to four pillars:

• Early testing and optimized comprehensive, high quality treatment and care for infants, children, and adolescents living with and children exposed to HIV
• Closing the treatment gap for pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV and optimizing continuity of treatment towards the goal of elimination of vertical transmission 
• Preventing and detecting new HIV infections among pregnant and breastfeeding adolescents and women 
• Addressing rights, gender equality and the social and structural barriers that hinder access to services

New global alliance launched to end AIDS in children by 2030

MONTREAL/GENEVA/NEW YORK, 1 August 2022 – Globally, only half (52%) of children living with HIV are on life-saving treatment, far behind adults where three quarters (76%) are receiving antiretrovirals, according to the data that has just been released in the UNAIDS Global AIDS Update 2022. Concerned by the stalling of progress for children, and the widening gap between children and adults, UNAIDS, UNICEF, WHO and partners have brought together a global alliance to ensure that no child living with HIV is denied treatment by the end of the decade and to prevent new infant HIV infections.

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