Paper Contents
Abstract
This study review highlights the epidemiological picture of pediatric HIV using estimates of vertical and horizontal transmission in India and Kyrgyzstan using timeline trend data from 2010 - 2024. We used random-effects models to account for variability across studies to report these estimates.India has made significant progress in reducing vertical transmission of HIV from mother-to-child, from >40% in 2010 to 24% in 2021, but the country still reported close to 5,000 new pediatric HIV cases at the end of 2021. Pediatric HIV is considerably skewed across the states with substantial geographic disparities. States with a high burden of pediatric HIV such as Bihar and Manipur reported rates of vertical transmission (39%+) that are much higher than states such as Tamil Nadu and Punjab (12% or lower). There are still important gaps to close in the coverage of ART treatment in pregnant women (64%) and repeat HIV testing during pregnancy and breastfeeding. These are critical pieces needed to reach national targets for the elimination of HIV transmission.In contrast to India's progress in vertical transmission after the introduction of prevention-of-mother-to-child-transmission (PMTCT) strategies, Kyrgyzstan has made tremendous reductions in vertical transmission from 9% in the early 2010s to 1.2% in 2023. Kyrgyzstan has tested and provided ART to >95% of pregnant women. As a result there are high survival rates of HIV-positive children in Kyrgyzstan in their first few years of life
Copyright
Copyright © 2025 Prajapati Yogender . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
