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Global overview

• Globally, children under 15 accounted for 2 million of the estimated 33 million people living with HIV in 2007.
• In 2007, some 370,000 children were newly infected with HIV. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to nearly 90 per cent of all children living with HIV.
• Most children are infected with the virus during pregnancy and delivery or while breastfeeding. About 50 per cent of infants who get HIV from their mothers die before their second birthday.
• In 2007, young people aged 15-24 accounted for 45 per cent of new HIV infections among adults aged 15 years and up.
• In 2007, some 5.5 million young people aged 15-24 were living with HIV - 3.4 million girls and young women and 2.1 millions boys and young men.
• In sub-Saharan Africa, the estimated number of children under 18 orphaned by AIDS more than doubled between 2000 and 2007, currently reaching 11.6 million.

Progress is being made

• In low- and middle-income countries, the proportion of HIV-positive pregnant women receiving antiretroviral prophylaxis to reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to their children increased from 10 per cent in 2004 to 33 per cent in 2007.
• In Eastern and Southern Africa, the proportion of HIV-positive pregnant women receiving antiretroviral prophylaxis for PMTCT increased from 11 per cent in 2004 to 43 per cent in 2007.
• In low- and middle-income countries, 200,000 HIV-positive children received antiretroviral treatment in 2007, compared with 75,000 in 2005.
• Recent evidence suggests that HIV prevalence among pregnant women aged 15–24 attending antenatal clinics has declined since 2000–2001 in 14 of 17 countries with sufficient data. In seven of these countries, prevalence in this group declined by at least 25 per cent, the global target set for 2010 at the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS) in 2001.
• Widespread efforts to extend protection, care and support to children affected by AIDS are under way in many countries, the gap in school enrolment rates between children who have lost both parents and other children is closing, and a growing number of vulnerable children have access to education and social protection.