The Business Leadership Council for a Generation Born HIV Free said it was encouraged by a reported 38 percent reduction of new HIV infections among children in 21 countries in sub-Saharan Africa from 2009-2012, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The business leadership council is a team of private sector professionals whose only agenda is to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV in the world, the report says. Council members contribute the mindsets, capabilities and resources of the private sector to fill key gaps in the global drive toward this goal.

“It is gratifying to see that there were 130,000 fewer new HIV infections among children across the 21…countries in Africa between 2009 and the end of 2012,” said John Megrue, chairman of the council, in the report. “However, further substantial gains must be achieved over the coming 900-plus days in order to virtually end the transmission of HIV from mothers to children by 2015.”

Nigeria still accounts for more than 20 percent of the world’s children newly infected with HIV each year, Megrue said. “…the energy, urgency, and increased momentum must be sustained in countries like Nigeria…We are proud to collaborate with the Nigerian Ministry of Health and their partners.”

The reduction in HIV cases was reported by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS and the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.