Funding Freeze, Mentor Mothers, and a $13M Bet on Children Living With HIV

ViiV Healthcare announced a £9.75 million investment in pediatric HIV care as panelists warned that the loss of the Mothers to Mothers program after the 2025 USAID funding freeze could reverse decades of progress in preventing mother-to-child transmission. Speaking at Devex Impact House during the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23, experts from Kenya, UNICEF, UNAIDS, and frontline community organizations laid out a stark picture: only 54% of children living with HIV are on treatment, 200 children die of AIDS daily, and the youngest and most vulnerable face the widest gaps in care.

• ViiV Healthcare commits £9.75 million (~$13M) over three years to scale the Breakthrough Pediatric Partnership across multiple countries
• Only 54% of HIV-positive children are on treatment, leaving roughly 580,000 diagnosed but untreated
• Kenya's HIV program head calls pediatric failures a consequence of adult stigma, saying caregivers avoid clinics to hide their status
• USAID funding freeze left 17 pregnant mothers without ARVs in Kenya; the Mothers to Mothers mentor program has been pulled from the country entirely
• Community advocacy wins 20% HIV budget increase in DRC's Kinshasa province for 2027
• UNICEF pushes for salaried community health workforce, noting children are 3% of people with HIV but 12% of AIDS deaths

Why it matters: Children under 5 have the lowest viral load suppression rates of any age group, and unlike adults, they cannot bring themselves to health facilities — making the treatment gap a systemic failure, not a personal one.