HIV PREVALENCE IN ADOLESCENTS

In 2013, about 2.1 million adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19 were living with HIV worldwide. Adolescents account for about 6 per cent of all people living with HIV and about 12 per cent of new adult HIV infections. Regions with the highest numbers of HIV-positive adolescents are sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Of the 2.1 million adolescents living with HIV, about 1.4 million (64 per cent) live in Eastern and Southern Africa.  

Adolescent girls and young women are disproportionately affected by HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in countries where HIV prevalence among young girls is greater than 15 per cent. In some of these countries, adolescent girls are two to three times more likely to be infected than boys of the same age group. 

In sub-Saharan Africa especially, adolescents are disproportionately affected by HIV

Estimated number of adolescents (ages 10─19) living with HIV, by region, 2013

Note: See map disclaimer

Source: UNAIDS 2013 HIV and AIDS estimates.

Map disclaimer

In sub-Saharan Africa especially, adolescents are disproportionately affected by HIV

Estimated number of adolescents (ages 10─19) living with HIV, by region, 2013

Note: See map disclaimer

Source: UNAIDS 2013 HIV and AIDS estimates.

Nearly 80 per cent of all adolescents living with HIV are from 14 countries

Estimated percentage of adolescents (aged 10─19) living with HIV in 14 selected high-burden countries, 2013

Source: UNAIDS, 2013 HIV and AIDS estimates.

Nearly 80 per cent of all adolescents living with HIV are from 14 countries

Estimated percentage of adolescents (aged 10─19) living with HIV in 14 selected high-burden countries, 2013

Source: UNAIDS, 2013 HIV and AIDS estimates.

WHAT IS NEEDED TO TURN THE TIDE

To prevent the spread of new infections, adolescents and young people need accurate and relevant information about HIV, along with a safe environment in which they can talk openly about risk behaviour. This must be accompanied by access to voluntary counselling and testing, HIV education in schools, and the prevention of other sexually transmitted infections. 

Greater emphasis must also be placed on reaching adolescent boys and girls with HIV preventive care and treatment programmes. Emerging evidence suggests that young people living with HIV, especially adolescents, are less likely than others to receive health care that can keep them healthy and alive. In fact, all other age groups except adolescents experienced a nearly 40 per cent decline in AIDS-related deaths between 2005 and 2013, while adolescents were the only age group in which AIDS-related deaths have not declined.

AIDS-related deaths have declined in younger children and adults, but not among adolescents

Estimated number of AIDS-related deaths among children (ages 0─14), younger adolescents (ages 10─14), older adolescents (ages 15─19) and young people (ages 20─24), 2000─2013(aged 20─24), 2000─2012

Source: UNAIDS, 2013 HIV and AIDS estimates.

AIDS-related deaths have declined in younger children and adults, but not among adolescents

Estimated number of AIDS-related deaths among children (ages 0─14), younger adolescents (ages 10─14), older adolescents (ages 15─19) and young people (ages 20─24), 2000─2013(aged 20─24), 2000─2012

Source: UNAIDS, 2013 HIV and AIDS estimates.

PROGRESS

According to UNAIDS estimates, HIV prevalence has fallen in many of the most severely affected countries because adolescents and young people are adopting safer sexual practices. In several countries, risk behaviour is on the decline, including the initiation of sex before age 15, sex with multiple partners and sex without condoms.

In countries with generalized epidemics, schools can be a critical venue for reaching adolescents with the information and skills they need to avoid infection. In fact, evidence shows that school-based sex education can be effective in changing the knowledge, attitudes and practices that lead to risk behaviour.

Preventing HIV in countries with low prevalence or where the epidemic is concentrated in specific populations is especially challenging since the spread of the virus is fuelled by high-risk, often stigmatized behaviour. People who engage in such behaviour tend to be young and include sex workers, people who inject drugs and men who have sex with men.  

For more data and analysis on HIV and AIDS in children, see UNICEF’s Children and AIDS: Sixth stocktaking report by clicking here.  

REFERENCES

UNICEF, Children and AIDS: Sixth stocktaking report, UNICEF, New York, 2013.

UNAIDS, Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, UNAIDS, Geneva, 2013.

UNAIDS, Global AIDS Response Progress Reporting 2014. Guidelines: Construction of core indicators for monitoring the 2011 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS, Geneva, 2014.

UNICEF, Progress for Children: A report card on adolescents, No. 10, UNICEF New York, 2012.

UNICEF, Progress for Children: Achieving the MDGs with equity, No. 9, UNICEF New York, 2010.

UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children 2014 in Numbers: Every child counts – Revealing disparities, advancing children’s rights, UNICEF, New York, 2014.

UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children 2013: Children with disabilities, UNICEF, New York, 2013.

UNICEF, UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNFPA, ILO, WHO and The World Bank, Opportunity in Crisis: Preventing HIV from early adolescence to young adulthood, UNICEF, New York, 2011.

WHO, Global Update on HIV Treatment 2013: Results, impact and opportunities, WHO, Geneva, 2013.

WHO, UNAIDS and UNICEF, Global HIV/AIDS Response: Epidemic update and health sector progress towards universal access – Progress report 2011, UNAIDS, Geneva, 2011.