Aids now the top killer of African teenagers

Aids is now the leading cause of death among African teenagers and the second most common killer for adolescents across the globe, the UN’s agency for children has said.

At a conference in South Africa, Unicef said despite gains made among adults and babies with HIV, the number of 10 to 19-year-olds dying from Aids-related diseases has tripled since 2000.

Craig McClure, chief of Unicef’s HIV and Aids division, said children born with the virus were dying in their teens because there was not enough treatment aimed at adolescents.