The numbers of people infected with HIV and undiagnosed, given the limited diffusion of the test, could drastically affect the data on the current HIV/AIDS epidemic
The last report says “HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care services are all being disrupted particularly in countries with fragile health systems. The breakdown in essential HIV services due to COVID-19 is threatening lives. Any slowing down in the provision of these services will leave many vulnerable populations at greater risk of HIV infection and AIDS-related deaths. Of the 38 million people living with HIV, 25.4 million people are now on treatment. That means 12.6 million people are still waiting. New HIV infections have been reduced by 23% since 2010, thanks in large part to a substantial decrease of 38% in eastern and southern Africa. But HIV infections have increased by 72% in eastern Europe and central Asia, by 22% in the Middle East and North Africa and by 21% in Latin America. Globally, there were still 690 000 AIDS-related deaths in 2019 and 1.7 million new infections. Our 2020 targets of reducing AIDS-related deaths to fewer than 500 000 and new HIV infections to fewer than 500 000 will be missed.” (read more HERE).
Better awareness and longer survival of those affected, thanks to the continuing advance of treatments, have socially lowered the panic of the 1980s. An estimated 27.5 million people were receiving HIV treatment in 2020. However, globally, only 73% of the 37.7 million people living with HIV in 2020 were receiving ART. (see HERE). In this respect, we published an article about this data and its bioethical implications, read Is it ethically admissible that so many HIV-positive patients do not have access to treatment? The WHO campaign initiated in 2017 “Treatment for All”, 4 years later does not reach its objectives. The most worrisome of this epidemic are the cases of people with HIV not diagnosed due to few countries’ campaigns to detect them, even among people at high risk, before and during the COVID 19 crisis.
One relevant issue of this epidemic is that “Up to 26% of people initiating treatment is infected with a virus carrying resistance to first-line drugs”, read WHO – Hiv Drug Resistance (November 16, 2020).
HIV/AIDS current epidemic data could be subestimated
In this respect, Winnie Byanyima UNAIDS Executive Director says “It is estimated that globally 243 million women and girls (aged 15–49 years) have been subjected to sexual and/or physical violence perpetrated by an intimate partner in the past 12 months. Meanwhile, we know that women who experience such violence are 1.5 times more likely to acquire HIV than women who have not experienced violence. Among marginalized groups, a high prevalence of violence is also linked with higher rates of HIV infection. Female sex workers have a 30-times greater risk of acquiring HIV than the general population.” (read more HERE). The report omits the homosexual collective HIV major incidence that CDC studied. Why? Read our recent article about the issue HERE.
We ask ourselves: Are realistic UNAIDS goals to control the worldwide epidemic?
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