In 2025, the Joint Programme's guidance and technical assistance helped reduce gaps in access to paediatric HIV treatment and vertical transmission services across all regions, with a focus on high-burden countries. Updated normative guidance was rapidly developed on the WHO Triple Elimination Framework, to help countries and stakeholders in planning targeted and country-specific programmes to achieve the triple elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B virus. WHO and UNICEF published a country guidance for planning triple elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B. WHO also published an implementation guidance that supports children and adolescents living with HIV in the process of disclosure. By end of 2025, 121 countries reported having national plans aimed at eliminating vertical HIV transmission, and 106 adopted “Treat All” policies for pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV. Among the 37 UNICEF-supported priority countries, 33 expanded paediatric interventions and all adopted innovative diagnostics integrated into primary healthcare in 2025.
Under UNICEF’s leadership, the Joint Programme provided targeted technical guidance on national HIV and maternal, newborn and child health plans, triple elimination policies, paediatric HIV case finding and multisectoral prevention strategies through strengthened primary healthcare. Efforts established sustainability pathways for diagnostics and ART, including through the strategic use of Global Fund allocations and from leveraging domestic financing. Service delivery achievements included scaling up of early infant diagnosis, decentralizing paediatric ART to community levels, and strengthening clinical mentoring, while disaggregated data collection allowed countries to track performance and target interventions for children most at risk of HIV.
WHO, UNICEF and the Secretariat continued to support the Global Alliance to End AIDS in Children to close paediatric HIV treatment and vertical transmission gaps across 12 high-burden African countries, such as by integrating key interventions into national responses and funding proposals for Global Fund and PEPFAR. The Joint Programme provided targeted country-level support in the Central African Republic, where community-to-facility linkages reached 5000 pregnant and breastfeeding women. In Venezuela, Joint Programme support enabled point-of-care and early infant diagnosis, through dual HIV and syphilis test kits provided to 40 000 pregnant women. In Tajikistan, 160 providers were capacitated, through UNFPA support, to offer voluntary HIV counselling, testing and treatment to pregnant women.
With Joint Programme’s support, more countries progressed toward validation and certification in 2025. The Maldives became the first country to achieve triple elimination of vertical transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B, marking a groundbreaking achievement through integrated antenatal care, immunization and testing even in small island health systems. Brazil was validated for eliminating vertical transmission of HIV, Botswana reached gold tier status on the path to elimination. By the end of 2025, a total of 23 countries and territories had reached full validation or the path to elimination of vertical transmission of HIV.
