World’s Response to HIV/AIDS Is at Risk - UN

The United Nations warned Thursday that the global response to HIV is likely to fail in the face of little progress in the prevention, increased risks, and limited resources to address the virus.

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The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) report revealed that new infections experienced a 3.6 percent decline between 2020 and 2021, the most modest since 2016.

During the past year, 1.5 million new infections were counted, which exceeds the disease projection by more than one million. It also reveals that women and adolescent girls were the most affected group in the population.

Although a decrease in new infections is reported in West and Central Africa, as well as in the Caribbean, the response to existing cases is threatened by funding cuts.

In this regard, UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, warned that the data reflect that "the global response to AIDS is in serious jeopardy" when 650 000 deaths from HIV are reported.

At the same time, she adverted that "if we do not move forward quickly, we will be losing ground as the pandemic grows amidst Covid-19, mass displacement and other crises. Let us remember the millions of preventable deaths we are trying to stop."

The most significant increase in HIV-positive cases since 2015 was recorded in the Philippines, Madagascar, Congo, and South Sudan. South Africa, Nigeria, India, and the United Republic of Tanzania had the most notable declines.