The Start Free Stay Free AIDS Free framework promotes a set of human rights-based interventions to end AIDS as a public health threat among children and adolescents. It focuses on enhancing actions in 23 countries with high numbers of children, adolescents and young women living with HIV.
In the global quest to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030, meeting the HIV-related needs of children, adolescents and pregnant and breastfeeding women represents a critical piece of unfinished business. To inject a sense of urgency in to global efforts to end the epidemic among children, adolescents and young women, global partners joined together in 2015 to launch the Start Free, Stay Free, AIDS Free framework. Unveiled as the global community was embracing a series of 2020 targets intended to Fast-Track the HIV response, Start Free, Stay Free, AIDS Free called for a super-Fast-Track approach to end AIDS as a public health threat among children, adolescents and young women by 2020.
Since the deadline for achieving the targets passed in December 2020, this is the final Start Free, Stay Free, AIDS Free progress report. Although the targets were global, partners identified 23 countries for intensified focus under the framework. This report specifically highlights progress against the targets in focus countries. The only focus countries outside sub-Saharan Africa (India and Indonesia) do not report data on Start Free, Stay Free, AIDS Free targets and are not covered in this report.
The global community has committed to eliminating mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT), also known as vertical transmission, of HIV and syphilis as a public health priority. In 2014 the World Health Organization (WHO) released the first edition of the Global guidance on criteria and processes for validation: elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. In 2015 the Global Validation Advisory Committee for EMTCT was established and that same year the first country, Cuba, was validated. The second edition of the guidance, published in 2017, captured the learning from validation efforts, making it more relevant for high burden countries, expanding the capacity of maternal and child health services to address vertical transmission of communicable diseases.
This third version includes guidance for validation of elimination of vertical transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV), within the Triple Elimination Initiative (EMTCT of HIV, syphilis and HBV).
This progress report presents highlights of the first year of implementation (through December 2016) of the Start Free, Stay Free, AIDS Free initiative, which focuses on accelerating country-level progress toward ending new HIV infections among children, identifying children and adolescents living with HIV, ensuring their right to access life-saving treatment and quality care, and stopping the cycle of new infections among adolescents and young women. See the 2016 Framework to read more about the Three Frees.
Towards an AIDS-free generation in West and Central Africa
The Step Up The Pace Report takes stock of the progress and shortfalls in the HIV response in the region, offers an analysis of the challenges that continue to slow progress, and outlines several strategic directions that can accelerate the pace of progress towards the targets deined in the ‘Three Frees’ framework for ending AIDS among children, adolescents and young women by 2020.
Start Free, Stay Free, AIDS Free initiative aims to galvanize global momentum around a shared and ambitious agenda to build on the progress achieved under the Global Plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive. The Global Plan resulted in remarkable progress, reducing new HIV infections among children by 60% in 21 of the most affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet the job is far from done. In 2015, 150,000 [110,000–190,000] children became newly infected with HIV globally, 110,000 [78,000–150,000] of whom lived in the 21 Global Plan priority countries.