The United Nations is launching a new initiative to significantly reduce the number of children born with HIV around the world by 2015.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday developed nations have successfully eliminated mother-to-child HIV transmissions, by treating women while they are pregnant. He said this proves mother-to-child transmissions can be stopped in the developing world as well.

The U.N. leader said mothers everywhere deserve the same treatment options to protect themselves and their children.

In 2009, some 370,000 babies were born with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Nearly all of them were born in sub-Saharan Africa. The U.N. wants to reduce that number by 90 percent in the next four years.

The plan calls for increasing access to anti-retroviral drugs and other prevention services for mothers and children, integrating health care services for women, and empowering women to take charge of their health and that of their children.

The new program was announced Thursday, during high-level meetings at U.N. headquarters on the international response to HIV and AIDS. The United States pledged $75 million for the new initiative.

The French news agency reports this week's U.N. AIDS summit also will set a goal of getting anti-retroviral drugs to 15 million HIV-positive people by 2015, which would more than double the number of people currently receiving life-saving treatment.