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Portugal is part of the small group of European countries with more HIV-positive people and more patients in treatment who have stopped transmitting the infection, said Thursday an official of the World Health Organization (WHO). In an interview with the Lusa agency, Masoud Dara, coordinator of the WHO Communicable Diseases Program, welcomed the progress made in recent years in the fight against AIDS
"Portugal has followed an exemplary prevention course, screening, treatment and care. "Patients with HIV," said Masoud Dara, pointing out that the country has achieved virtually all of the goals set out in the UN's HIV / AIDS program – UNAIDS, known as the name 90/90/90.
90% of people infected with HIV / AIDS are diagnosed, 90% of people diagnosed are on treatment and 90% of people on treatment reach a viral load undetectable to the point of being im
Portugal has already achieved one of these goals – the identification of infected people – and has managed to ensure that 89% of treated patients achieve a very undetectable burden, said the state secretary at the Health, Fernando Araújo. "Exemplar" is the adjective chosen by Masoud Dara, who places Portugal alongside countries like Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which have already reached the target of 90-90-90
However, the average of the 53 European countries participating in the program is worrying: only 69% of patients are identified, most are not in treatment (58%) and only 36% of patients are treated
Masoud Dara points out the situation in Eastern European countries as the main reason for these low percentages, since in this region of the globe,
"In In 2016, there were 160,000 new infections in Europe, of which 80% were living in Eastern countries, "he said, explaining that in this region the number of new patients continues to rise. partly because of lack of prevention and limited access to treatment. Result: In the East, only 63% of patients are diagnosed, only one in four (28%) is on treatment and 88% of patients are still at risk of transmitting the virus.
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