2023-08-09 23:00:46
The number of people living with this infection has increased from 26 million to more than 38 million in the last two decades.
The development of antiretrovirals remains one of the most important advances in the treatment of patients with HIV.
While in 2000 there were 2.9 million new cases in the world, by 2021 the figure dropped to 1.5 million.
Pandemics have existed for centuries, although there is one originating a few decades ago that remains one of the deadliest. Its about HIV and although there is still no cure, significant progress has been made to reduce the number of cases. For the same reason, now it is no longer a deadly disease but treatable. Even now there are other diseases such as diabetes and cancer that cause more deaths on the planet.
Regarding its history, the way in which it originated is unknown with certainty. According to the medical literature, in 1959 the first cases in Africa of a hitherto unknown disease were reported. For several years it remained anonymous until it left that continent and spread to the rest of the world.
For its part, in 1983 the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized its presence in at least 33 countries. Also at that time the pathology was baptized as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which in its advanced phase becomes the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
HIV and AIDS are not synonymous
In that sense, A common mistake among people is to assume that both terms mean the same thing, but in reality they do not. In the simplest possible way, HIV is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Although a few decades ago it was a deadly problem, today it is controllable thanks to the development of drugs. When the patient has adequate adherence to treatment, they can lead a life similar to that of the rest of the population.
On the other hand, the AIDS can be understood as the advanced stage of HIV. When an infected patient does not consume medication or abandons the medical indications, then his problem evolves into this syndrome. When that happens, death is irremediable in the short term.
Main advances achieved against HIV
In this sense, it is estimated that 38.4 million people are living with HIV worldwide. While the annual number of deaths has fallen below 1 million since 2017 and currently stands at around 700,000, according to data published by UNAIDS.
According to what was published by Statesman, the main responsible for this phenomenon have been antiretrovirals. Its development dates back to the beginning of this century, although it was from 2010 when governments have facilitated its access.
With this in mind, in 2000 there were less than a million infected people who had access to this therapy. Whereas by 2010 the figure increased to eight million and is currently almost 29 million, which corresponds to almost three quarters of the people living with the virus.
Despite these positive figures on the evolution of the epidemic and access to treatment in the last two decades, experts have warned that there is growing complacency regarding the disease. It cannot be ignored that it remains incurable and is responsible for thousands of deaths around the world.
They also point out that in recent years there has been a slowdown in the rate of new HIV cases. The possible causes are the Covid-19 pandemic that caused a deterioration in care for other diseases, in addition to overconfidence on the part of the general population.
Finally, despite the important advances that have been achieved with respect to HIV, the possibility of eradicating this disease still seems quite distant.
Also read:
The 10 countries with the most new cases of HIV in the world
Main myths and misconceptions about HIV: Half of people think that it is synonymous with AIDS
Sixth case of HIV remission in history: Was the cure finally found?
#Decline #cases #deaths