2023-07-13 16:26:44
More than one person dies of AIDS every minute worldwide. 630,000 deaths were recorded in 2022 by UNAIDS, the agency which publishes its annual report on the state of the pandemic on Thursday. But, despite this still terrible figure in 2023, UNAIDS prefers even the glass half full. In several regions of the world, particularly in Africa, clear progress has been recorded.
Published on: 07/13/2023 – 16:26
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In 2022, every day, about 3,600 people were infected with the VIH/Sida. Half of them in sub-Saharan Africa. The continent still bears the heaviest burden in the face of the epidemic, but it is also where progress is greatest.
Since 2010, the number of new infections has thus fallen by almost 60% in Southern Africa and by almost half in West Africa. Good results certainly, but still insufficient to overcome the epidemic by 2030, estimates UNAIDS. Contaminations are indeed more and more numerous in Eastern Europe, Central Asia or even in the Maghreb and North Africa. Screening, access to treatment… there too, the improvement is continuing, but not fast enough to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030. UNAIDS has been warning about this for several years.
The agency which thus recommends following the path of the countries which have obtained the best results. Botswana, Rwanda, Eswatini, Tanzania and Zimbabwe are cited as examples. They have already achieved the so-called “95-95-95” targets: 95% of people living with HIV know their HIV status, 95% of these people are on life-saving antiretroviral treatment and 95% of people on treatment have a suppressed viral load. (and therefore no longer transmit the virus). Sixteen other countries, including eight in sub-Saharan Africa – the region where 65% of HIV-positive people live – are on track to achieve this target.
Do not stigmatize most-at-risk populations
Programs in these model African countries are community-based and do not stigmatize most-at-risk populations, such as gay men, sex workers or drug users. They also have programs that tackle inequalities and which, above all, benefit from adequate funding. When “ leaders ignore, isolate and criminalize people living with or at risk of HIV, progress in the AIDS response is hampered and more people are contracting the virus “, points out the UNAIDS.
Because that is the problem, this report is entitled: “ The path to ending AIDS “. And for good reason, the tools are there to put an end to the epidemic, all that is missing is the political will and the money that goes with it, estimates UNAIDS. 20.8 billion dollars were spent worldwide in 2022. This is 2.6% less than in 2021. It would take 30 in 2025 to hope to meet the objectives.
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