The United Nations says "the end of Aids" is still possible by 2030, but only if leaders grasp the opportunity to halt the world's deadliest pandemic.
"AIDS can be ended" as a public health threat, the UNAIDS agency said on Thursday, as it outlined a roadmap of investment, evidence-based prevention and treatment, and measures to tackle the inequalities that are currently holding back progress in combatting the disease.
UNAIDS said that ending the pandemic was, above all, a political and financial choice.
"We are not yet on the path that ends Aids," the agency's executive director Winnie Byanyima said, but "we can choose to get on that path".
Public health threat
In 2015, the UN first set the target of ending Aids as a public health threat by 2030.
Byanyima said the greatest progress on HIV – the virus that causes AIDS – was being made in the countries and regions that have invested heavily in prevention and treatment.
She cited eastern and southern Africa, where new HIV infections have dropped by 57 percent since 2010.
Today's Global #AIDSUpdate2023, The Path That Ends AIDS, shows that there IS a clear path to #endAIDS by 2030.
— Winnie Byanyima (@Winnie_Byanyima) July 13, 2023
World leaders can choose to #endAIDS—this report shows how to do it!
It's the same path that will help countries meet the #SDGs and be prepared for future pandemics. https://t.co/yNRiebMwRc pic.twitter.com/1GAFrYVauJ
Botswana, Eswatini, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe have already met what are called the 95-95-95 targets.
This means that 95 percent of those living with HIV know their status; 95 percent of those who know they have HIV are on life-saving anti-retroviral treatment; and 95 percent of people on treatment achieve viral suppression.
At least 16 other countries are close to achieving the target.
They include eight in sub-Saharan Africa – the region where 65 percent of HIV-positive people live – as well as Denmark, Kuwait and Thailand.
39 million living with HIV
In its report unveiled this week, UNAIDS said that two decades ago, the global Aids pandemic seemed unstoppable, with more than 2.5 million people testing positive for HIV each year and Aids claiming 2 million lives annually.
But the picture has dramatically changed.
UNAIDS said that in 2022, 39 million people globally were living with HIV, of whom 29.8 million were accessing anti-retroviral therapy.
The number of people on anti-retroviral treatment has nearly quadrupled from 7.7 million in 2010. But those still missing out include 660,000 children.
Our new report ‘The Path that Ends AIDS' released today shows that there is a clear path to #endAIDSby2030. This path will also help prepare for & tackle future pandemics and advance progress towards achieving the #GlobalGoals
— UNAIDS (@UNAIDS) July 13, 2023
Around 1.3 million people became newly infected with HIV last year – down 59 percent from the peak in 1995.
Although 630,000 died from Aids-related illnesses, overall Aids-related deaths have been reduced by 69 percent since its peak in 2004.
'Dependent on action'
Byanyima said that today's leaders had an opportunity to be remembered as "those who put a stop to the world's deadliest pandemic".
"We are hopeful, but it is not the relaxed optimism that might come if all was heading as it should be. It is, instead, a hope rooted in seeing the opportunity for success, an opportunity that is dependent on action," she said.
According to UNAIDS, donor funding for HIV fell in 2022 to $20.8 billion – around the same level as in 2013, and well short of the $29.3 billion needed by 2025.
Additionally, laws that criminalise people from key populations at risk – such as sex workers, men who have sex with men and people who inject drugs – remain in place in many countries, UNAIDS said, which can prevent people coming forward for treatment.
(with AFP)
