According to the UN, there is a complacency in the fight against AIDS



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Complacency holds back progress in the fight against the global AIDS epidemic, making the pace of progress fall short of what is needed, the United Nations warned on Wednesday.

UNAIDS, the UN agency on HIV / AIDS, said in a report that the fight against the disease is in a "precarious situation". Although the number of deaths has decreased and treatment rates have increased, new HIV infections threaten to undermine efforts to conquer the disease.

"The world diverges from the road, promises made to the most vulnerable people in society are not respected," says the report. "There is still a long way to go to end the AIDS epidemic – time is running out."

Michel Sidibe, Executive Director of UNAIDS, noted in the prologue of the report that great progress has been made in reducing the number of deaths from AIDS and reaching a record number of people worldwide, the world is receiving antiretroviral treatment.

According to the report, about 21.7 million of the 37 million People infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who are at the origin of AIDS were in treatment in 2017, five and a half times more than ten years ago.

This rapid and sustained increase in the number of people receiving treatment has reduced the number of AIDS-related deaths by 34% between 2010 and 2017. The number of AIDS-related deaths in 2017 was the lowest of this century, minus of one million people, according to the report.

Versi generics of pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV. (Photo: CBC)

Sidibe also highlighted the critical issues to prevent the spread of HIV and ensure consistent funding.

"Success in saving lives has not been matched by the same success in reducing new HIV infections," he said. "New HIV infections are not diminishing enough quick. HIV prevention services are not available on an adequate scale and do not reach the people who need them most, "said the UNAIDS executive director.

Sidibe said the inability to stop new infections in children

"I am saddened by the fact that in 2017, 180,000 children were infected with HIV, which is far from the 2018 goal of eliminating new HIV infections in children, "he wrote

. Data from the report showed that about 1.8 million people became infected in 2017 by adding children and adults.

Since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, more than 77 million people have been infected. infected with the HIV virus. Nearly half of them, or 35.4 million, died of AIDS

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