UN Report: Aids Rate Among Infants Down, Teenage Rate Up

The U.N. Children's Fund UNICEF says the rate of HIV and AIDS infection among infants have dropped over the last seven years, however the organization said they are surprised at the increase among teenagers despite aggressive programs that includes condom distribution and antiretroviral treatment.

The report said the number of infants who had been infected with HIV reduced from 540,000 in 2005 to 260,000 in 2012 - leading experts to calculate that over 850,000 infants had been saved from the burden of HIV.

Nearly 90 per cent of children newly infected with HIV live in just 22 countries. All except one are in sub-Saharan Africa.

"If high-impact interventions are scaled up using an integrated approach, we can halve the number of new infections among adolescents by 2020," said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. "It's a matter of reaching the most vulnerable adolescents with effective programs - urgently."

UNICEF said there were some 2.1 million adolescents living with HIV in 2012, half of them in just six countries - South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, India and Zimbabwe. Last year, about two-thirds of new HIV infections in adolescents ages 15 to 19 were among girls.

The report also noted impressive gains in preventing new HIV infections among infants. Some 260,000 children were newly infected with HIV in 2012, compared to 540,000 in 2005.

"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," says Anthony Lake, executive director at UNICEF.