More people contracted HIV in 45 countries than a year earlier, the AIDS Fund reported on Monday. According to the organization, the fight against the AIDS epidemic is blocked by inequality and discrimination.
De cijfers
- 1,5 miljoen mensen raakten vorig jaar besmet met hiv
- Ruim 650.000 mensen overleden aan de gevolgen van aids
- Wereldwijd leven 38,4 miljoen mensen met hiv
A report, released each year on World AIDS Day, shows that the AIDS epidemic is shrinking less and less rapidly around the world. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, the epidemic has even grown over the last decade. In Asia and Latin America, where HIV was previously reasonably under control, infections are now on the rise again.
One of the countries where the number of HIV infections is increasing rapidly, especially among risk groups, is El Salvador. There, the number of HIV infections in men who have sex with men has doubled in one year, and among transgender women it is eight times higher than in the previous year. According to Aidsfonds, this is partly due to stigmatisation.
“Too many people are excluded from life-saving care just because of who they are, where they live and who they love,” says Mark Vermeulen, director of AIDSfonds. “In more and more countries there is a political reluctance to invest in affordable healthcare, a fundamental right that is not being recognised. After 40 years of scientific efforts and advances, too many countries are now taking major steps backwards.”
They are increasing especially among young people and women
The increase in HIV infections is particularly visible among young people between the ages of 15 and 24. Girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa are particularly affected: they are three times more likely to contract HIV than boys of the same age. According to Aidsfonds, this is partly due to a lack of education and information.
Corona also had a negative impact on control. The money that would have been used for AIDS has gone to fight the corona and the economic problems that have followed the pandemic.
Moreover, Western countries are still making less money available for funds to fight AIDS, notes the AIDSfonds. The Global Fund, the global fund to fight HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, has called on international donors to increase their contributions by 30 percent over the next few years. Some countries have done so, the Dutch government has increased its contribution by 15%.
“The global ambition to end AIDS must not wane,” Vermeulen said. “It is precisely time that the Dutch government must continue to defend the health rights of women and minorities and continue to support international funding for the fight against AIDS”.
Medicines and preventives
Nobody has to die of AIDS anymore, underlines the AIDSfonds in the report. There are drugs and there are preventatives, like PrEP.
That this remedy appears to be effective, pale two weeks ago. The number of new HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men is declining rapidly in the Netherlands. According to the HIV Monitoring Foundation, this decrease means that the prevention pill is working well.
At the same time, not everyone has access to this resource. Since 2019, the drug has been available through the GGD to a limited group of men through a national trial. Additionally, the pill can also be obtained through your doctor, but it is much more expensive.
