How Uganda is spearheading efforts to tackle pediatric HIV

Florence, aged 6, is one of almost 38 million people worldwide living with HIV, 1.7 million of whom are aged under 15 and usually contract HIV from their mothers during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to nearly 90% of children living with HIV, while approximately 95,000 Ugandan children have the virus.

If HIV-positive mothers can take antiretroviral therapy, or ART, regularly during pregnancy, this can significantly reduce the chances of the child contracting HIV. Though there is currently no cure for HIV, ART can help children to live longer, healthier lives by reducing the concentration of HIV in their bloodstream.

But at the same time, only 57% of children with HIV in eastern and southern Africa are receiving ART, compared with 78% of adults. This is partly because children, unlike adults, may not express the pain often associated with HIV, and thus rely on their caregiver to assess their condition, said Mary Namubiru, technical director at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation in Uganda.

There are also significant challenges with ART resistance, particularly in children, whose rates of treatment success are consistently lower than those for adults across Africa. If resistance occurs, children then must move from first- to second- and then third-line treatment if the drugs don’t work.

From Uganda, Devex takes a look at an initiative, the New Horizons Advancing Pediatric HIV Care collaborative, which is working to provide access to second- and third-line ART drugs in high-burden countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Access this visual story and join Devex on the ground in Uganda as we explore how the country, in partnership with Johnson & Johnson and others, is spearheading efforts to tackle HIV.