figure 1.4 Country progress in reducing new HIV infections among children aged 0–14 in the 21 Global Plan priority countries in Africa, 2009–2012 Rapid decline (50 per cent or more)
Moderate decline (30–49 per cent)
Slow decline (less than 30 per cent)
Ghana (76%)
United Republic of Tanzania (49%)
Cameroon (29%)
Namibia (58%)
South Africa (46%)
Côte d’Ivoire (27%)
Zimbabwe (55%)
Mozambique (45%)
Lesotho (17%)
Malawi (52%)
Uganda (45%)
Democratic Republic of the Congo (15%)
Botswana (52%)
Kenya (44%)
Nigeria (10%)
Zambia (50%)
Swaziland (38%)
Chad (9%)
Ethiopia (50%)
Burundi (31%)
Angola (9% increase)
Source: UNICEF update to a table published in the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, Global Report: UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic 2013, UNAIDS, Geneva, 2013, p. 9.
However, much remains to be done. The CEE/CIS region reports the most favourable transmission rate (6 per cent), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (10 per cent) and Eastern and Southern Africa (13 per cent). All other regions report worrying transmission rates higher than 20 per cent (East Asia and the Pacific, 22 per cent; West and Central Africa, 28 per cent; Middle East and North Africa, 34 per cent; South Asia, 38 per cent).34
The rate of HIV transmission from mother to child has been steadily improving in most regions.
BOX
Towards an AIDS-Free Generation – Children and AIDS: Sixth Stocktaking Report, 2013
In the 22 priority countries of the Global Plan, overall mother-to-child transmission rates have declined, from an estimated 26 per cent in 2009 to 17 per cent in 2012. The number of children under 15 who were newly infected in these countries fell by 36 per cent, from 360,000 in 2009 to 230,000 in 2012. In this period, seven countries halved new HIV infections among children (see Figure 1.4).33
Validation of countries achieving elimination of mother-to-child transmission Countries beyond the scope of the Global Plan are also making progress towards EMTCT. For example, Cuba and Panama,35 Thailand36 and several countries in Eastern Europe, including Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan and the Republic of Moldova,37 report that they are approaching transmission rates of 2 per cent. Regional initiatives are building momentum – for example, the European Action Plan for HIV/AIDS 2012–2015 was established in 2011,38 and elimination initiatives on paediatric HIV infections and congenital syphilis exist in East Asia and the Pacific and in Latin America and the Caribbean.39 In recognition of this trend, WHO has established criteria and processes for validating country reports of the elimination of new HIV infections among children. Countries will apply to WHO, and the process of validation will be supported by regional and country-level bodies set up for this purpose. These criteria and processes were established for validating the elimination of both HIV and congenital syphilis.40
10