Medical experts have applauded recent successes in preventing HIV transmission between mothers and their newborns, but the high number of infected adolescents is "shocking."
AIDS-related deaths in individuals between the ages of 10 and 19 increased by a whopping 50 percent between the years of 2005 and 2012, a UNICEF news release reported.
The numbers rose from 71,000 to 110,000 over the course of those years, and in 2012 there were 2.1 million adolescents living with HIV.
"If high-impact interventions are scaled up using an integrated approach, we can halve the number of new infections among adolescents by 2020," UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, said. "It's a matter of reaching the most vulnerable adolescents with effective [programs] - urgently."
"High-impact interventions" could include "condoms, antiretroviral treatment, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, voluntary medical male circumcision, communications for [behavior] change, and targeted approaches for at-risk and marginalized populations." Better education, health systems, and welfare could also play a role in improving the dismal numbers.
"This report reminds us that an AIDS-free generation is one in which all children are born free of HIV and remain so--from birth and throughout their lives--and it means access to treatment for all children living with HIV," Michel Sidibe, Executive Director of UNAIDS, said. "It also reminds us that women's health and well-being should be at the [center] of the AIDS response. I have no doubt that we will achieve these goals."
A new life-long antiretroviral treatment called Option B+ offers better treatment for women living with HIV, and makes transmission to offspring less likely.
"These days, even if a pregnant woman is living with HIV, it doesn't mean her baby must have the same fate, and it doesn't mean she can't lead a healthy life," Lake said.
About 260,000 children were infected with HIV in 2012 compared with 540,000 in 2005.
"The world now has the experience and the tools to achieve an AIDS-free generation. Children should be the first to benefit from our successes in defeating HIV, and the last to suffer when we fall short," Lake said.
