At a time when HIV is in retreat globally, new infections are on the rise among some groups of adolescents in the Asia-Pacific region and globally.

This increase is largely out of sight, because those most at risk, such as young gay men, are overlooked by governments and society.

More than half of the world’s 1.2 billion adolescents live in the Asia-Pacific region. Five hundred million adolescents live in just four countries – China, India, Indonesia and Pakistan, with HIV prevalence concentrated in big cities like Bangkok, Mumbai and Jakarta.

In 2014, around 1,000 adolescents were newly infected with HIV every week in the region. The trend is cause for concern at a time when the world is celebrating impressive successes in the AIDS-response, The Guardian reported.

The report released today, Adolescents: Under the radar in the Asia-Pacific AIDS response, acknowledges progress towards an AIDS-free generation, but also shines a light on important gaps in that progress.

Globally, 26 adolescents (15-19) are infected with HIV every hour, and 40% of these new infections are happening outside Africa. The available data shows that these new infections coincide with an increase in risky behaviour, such as unsafe sex with multiple partners, coercive sex and sex under the influence of drugs, compounded by inconsistent condom use and a lack of knowledge about HIV.

We know that some actions are more risky than others: HIV prevalence among sex workers is 12 times higher than among the general population; 19 times higher among gay men and other men who have sex with men; 28 times higher among people who inject drugs; and 49 times higher among transgender women.

Risky behaviour that can lead to HIV infection often starts in adolescence. In Indonesia, 48% of injecting drug users started when they were 15-19 years old, and more than half of gay men started having sex when they were 15-19 years old. In India, 17% of sex workers were sexually exploited when they were younger than 15 years old.

The cost of inaction is clear – without programmes geared toward adolescents most at risk of HIV, new infections and AIDS-related deaths will increase and the epidemic will expand.

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Adolescents need better information and knowledge about the risks they face. Comprehensive sex education in schools is a strong starting point, but new technologies such as social media and the reality of adolescents’ lives means we must embrace new ways of talking to them.

While mobile dating apps, for example, can enable risky behaviour, they also provide opportunities to promote healthy behaviour.

HIV testing for at-risk adolescents is an important step to starting life-saving treatment, and preventing new infections.

We need to remove barriers, such as the age of consent for an HIV test, that prevent adolescents from seeking and receiving testing, healthcare and support. We need to address discrimination and criminalisation of at-risk groups.

For adolescents at high risk of HIV infection, these changes can literally mean life or death. This is an exciting time.

I was part of the global HIV and AIDS response well before we could talk and write openly about the populations at high risk of HIV. Thanks in part to how far we have come since then, we have never been so close to ending the HIV and AIDS epidemic.

We know there is a need for expanded access to HIV testing and counselling, condoms, antiretroviral treatment, harm reduction interventions and pre-and post-exposure prophylaxis. And we know that increased sensitivity is needed towards adolescents most at risk of HIV –in schools, health centres and society at large.

By mobilising and supporting adolescents themselves to speak out and take action, we can find new approaches that work for young people, and have a realistic chance of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. We must fast track our efforts now, so that adolescents are not left behind.