AIDS can end by 2030 with political will, investment – UNAIDS

UNITED NATIONS – Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) can be eradicated by 2030 and there is a clear path that ends it, according to a new United Nations (UN) report released on Thursday.

An estimated 39 million people globally were living with HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) in 2022, UNAIDS said in its latest report.

Some 1.3 million people became newly infected with HIV and 630,000 died from AIDS-related illnesses, according to the report.

“Ending AIDS is a political and financial choice,” UNAIDS said. “The countries and leaders who are already following the path are achieving extraordinary results”.

Progress has been strongest in the countries and regions that have the most financial investments, such as in eastern and southern Africa where new HIV infections have been reduced by 57 percent since 2010, according to the report.

Almost one quarter – 23 percent – of new HIV infections were in Asia and the Pacific where new infections are rising “alarmingly” in some countries.

Steep increases in new infections are continuing in eastern Europe and central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, it said.

These trends are due primarily to a lack of HIV prevention services for marginalized and key populations and the barriers posed by punitive laws and social discrimination, it added.

“There is a definite threat to achieving the end of AIDS by 2030 If we do not close the gaps among all populations,” said Angeli Achrekar, Assistant Secretary General and Deputy Executive Director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

The report also warned that ending AIDS will not come automatically.

Around 9.2 million people still miss out on treatment, including 660,000 children living with HIV, according to the report.

“There is an opportunity now to end AIDS by increasing political will by investing in a sustainable response to HIV through financing what matters most: evidence-based HIV prevention and treatment, health systems integration, non-discriminatory laws, gender equality, and empowered community networks,” it said. (Anadolu)