This symposium builds on a decade of meetings focused on the health and well-being of infants, children and adolescents born HIV free to women living with HIV, a population that is estimated to exceed 16 million globally. Perinatal HIV and antiretroviral drug exposure makes these children more vulnerable than others to infectious morbidity, mortality, impaired growth and suboptimal neurodevelopmental and cognitive outcomes – despite starting life HIV free.
As our understanding evolves, a multifaceted approach is needed to understand the impact of newer HIV treatment options available for pregnant persons with HIV, identify those at risk for poorer outcomes, and continue research on the mechanistic pathways of observed differences, the screening tools, interventions, policy development, and advocacy needed to optimize the health of children and adolescent born HIV-free to women living with HIV.
This symposium, “Taking action to ensure that children and adolescents with perinatal exposure thrive,” present the latest scientific findings and address health policy and programming to support children with perinatal exposure to thrive. It fosters networking opportunities for researchers, policy makers, implementers, community members and advocates.
