Despite a 25% reduction in HIV incidence in Zambia between 2001 and 2009, HIV prevalence for the population as a whole was still estimated to be 13.5% in 20091. In 2009 alone, 59,000 adults were infected with HIV as well as 17,000 children. UNAIDS estimates that a total of 120,000 children between the ages of 0–14 years are now living with HIV in Zambia. Of the children with perinatally acquired HIV (that is, HIV infection acquired through mother-to-child transmission of HIV [MTCT]), without treatment about half will die before their 2nd birthday. According to UNICEF’s Children and AIDS: Fifth Stocktaking Report, 2010, of the 120,000 children living with HIV, about 59,000 are in need of ART. Of those 59,000, 36% are receiving it. Given this increased access to paediatric HIV care and treatment, more and more perinatally infected children are living longer and reaching adolescence and adulthood. In addition to adolescents with perinatally acquired HIV, many adolescents have acquired HIV during their youth. Prevalence figures for Zambia’s youth are sobering: 8.9% of young women (15–24 years of age) and 4.2% of young men are infected with HIV — many, if not most, acquired HIV behaviourally, primarily through sexual transmission. Given the prevalence of HIV in Zambia’s adolescent population (those between the ages of 10–19 years), the Ministry of Health (MoH) is committed to developing HIV services that specifically serve the needs of this population. Whether behaviourally or perinatally infected with HIV, adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) face unique health, adherence, and psychosocial issues and challenges. Programmes and clinical services need to be youth-friendly to attract and retain adolescent clients in care. Zambia already has successful models of adolescent HIV care and treatment services (such as the Adolescent HIV Clinic at University Teaching Hospital PCOE in Lusaka), that can be scaled up nationally. But scaling up depends on making a commitment to adolescent HIV services and continuously improving the knowledge and skills of healthcare workers so that they can best address the specific needs of adolescent clients. This “Adolescent HIV Care and Treatment Training Curriculum for Multidisciplinary Healthcare Teams” represents a key step in the MoH’s commitment to ensure the rollout of HIV-related services that truly serve the needs of ALHIV. Young people are our future!