Mortality Among Children Aged <5 Years Living with HIV Who Are Receiving Antiretroviral Treatment - U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, 28 Supported Countries and Regions, October 2020-September 2022.

ABSTRACT

Globally, children aged <5 years, including those living with HIV who are not receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART), experience disproportionately high mortality. Global mortality among children living with HIV aged <5 years receiving ART is not well described. This report compares mortality and related clinical measures among infants aged <1 year and children aged 1-4 years living with HIV with those among older persons aged 5-14, 15-49, and ≥50 years living with HIV receiving ART services at all clinical sites supported by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. During October 2020-September 2022, an average of 11,980 infants aged <1 year and 105,510 children aged 1-4 years were receiving ART each quarter; among these infants and children receiving ART, 586 (4.9%) and 2,684 (2.5%), respectively, were reported to have died annually. These proportions of infants and children who died ranged from four to nine times higher in infants aged <1 year, and two to five times higher in children aged 1-4 years, than the proportions of older persons aged ≥5 years receiving ART. Compared with persons aged ≥5 years living with HIV, the proportions of children aged <5 years living with HIV who experienced interruptions in treatment were also higher, and the proportions who had a documented HIV viral load result or a suppressed viral load were lower. Prioritizing and optimizing HIV and general health services for children aged <5 years living with HIV receiving ART, including those recommended in the WHO STOP AIDS Package, might help address these disproportionately poorer outcomes.