The emerging need for adolescent-focused HIV care in South Africa

Before the widespread introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ART), most perinatally infected children did not survive beyond the first 2 years of life. With treatment, HIV-positive children are living longer. In the developed world, where HAART has been widely available since 1996, survival of perinatally infected children into adolescence is now the norm. Of a French cohort of perinatally infected children born before 1993, 58% were still alive and receiving HIV care 13 years later. In the UK the proportion of HIV-infected children in care aged 10 - 19 years increased from 11% to 44% between 1996 and 2005. As HAART becomes increasingly available in South Africa, we can expect similar trends.