HIV/AIDS in Caribbean Children and Adolescents

SUMMARY The Caribbean is a diverse region with a population of over 32,000,000 people. The HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean began in the 1970s in Haiti, and cases were reported from other countries in the 1980s. Over 360,000 people were living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 1999, and the adult HIV prevalence rate, 2.1%, is second only to sub-Sa-haran Africa. Increasing HIV prevalence among women attending prenatal clinics has resulted in an increasmg number of children being born with HIV/AIDS. Adolescent females and males in the Caribbean are at risk for HIV infection as a result of declining age of onset of sex and high risk unsafe sexual practices, including multiple sexual partners and casual sex. In the Caribbean, there is still a window of opportunity to alter the course of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. There is an urgent need for the implementation of mother-to-child HIV intervention programs which include the cheaper abbreviated zidovudine and nevirapine antiretrovirals. Targeted adolescent preventive programs, based on behavioral research and sensitive to the changing social norms, must be implemented now.