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The fight against AIDS is in full paradox: the proportion of HIV-positive people who have access to treatment has never been higher, but a looser in the prevention and decrease in funding raises fears of a rebound in the epidemic. 19659002] Nearly three in five HIV-positive people in the world – 21.7 million out of a total of 36.9 million – are taking antiretroviral therapy, the highest proportion ever, according to a UNAIDS report released on Wednesday.
Last year, 940,000 people worldwide died of AIDS-related illnesses, according to figures released before the International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam (July 23-27).
For comparison, At the peak of the epidemic in 2005, 1.9 million deaths worldwide were related to AIDS, according to the UN body in charge of fighting the disease.
At that time, only 2 million human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) carriers out of a total of 30 million had access to antiretroviral therapy, which prevents the development of AIDS.
"Nobody" would have thought we could have put 22 million people on treatment in 2018. It was a dream, "recalled UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé at a press conference in Paris.
" Unfortunately, we are a little victims of these results ", he qualified, lamenting a" crisis of prevention ":" there is a complacency that is created, which may jeopardize these achievements. is not the time to give up. "
At the forefront of concerns is the question of funding. "It is missing $ 7 billion a year (…) to allow us to maintain our results," said Mr Sidibé to AFP.
Last year, 20.6 billion euros were spent AIDS programs in low- and middle-income countries, which in turn finance 56 per cent, according to the report.
But under Trump administration, the United States, which historically is the contributor major in the fight against AIDS, have planned budget cuts.
– Children "left behind" –
"The fear is that the decrease in contributions from international donors does not lead to a reduction in the countries' internal investments affected, "said Mr Sidibé. However, "at least 44 countries depend 75% of international aid to fight the epidemic."
"If these resources are not available, there is a significant risk of rebounding the epidemic , with a risk of increasing resistance and increasing mortality due to AIDS, "he warned.
This compromises the goal set by the UN for 2020: that 90% of people living with HIV know their status, 90% of them are on treatment, and 90% of them have undetectable viral load.
"We are not going at the pace we have set ourselves. To break the backbone of this epidemic is to reach 30 million patients treated in 2020, "hammered the Malian boss of UNAIDS.
There were 1.8 million new infections last year, a stable number compared to previous years
The overall results released on Wednesday hide great disparities. In West and Central Africa, in particular, only 40% of the carriers of the virus have access to treatment.
"Some countries continue to worry, such as Nigeria, which alone accounts for about half of all new infections West Africa ", according to Mr Sidibé
Another source of concern:" The epidemic in Russia is becoming more widespread, while it focused on the populations who inject drugs, it affects more and more the general population. "
M. Sidibé also recognized shortcomings in the fight against AIDS among children, who are "left behind."
"Although we have avoided 1.4 million new infections in children since 2010, we unfortunately find that that we have not made enough progress, "he noted.
" We continue to have more than 50% of children who do not have access to treatment, and there was the year last 110,000 deaths and 180,000 new infections, this is inadmissible. "
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