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"Undetectable". It is with this cry, hand in hand, that people living with HIV have launched the ceremony marking the 30th anniversary of the fight against AIDS. They celebrate the fact that their viral load is at levels that have not even been detected in laboratory tests because of antiretroviral therapy compliance.
Data released today by the Ministry of Health (27) show a 16% reduction in AIDS cases and deaths in the country over the past four years. According to the report, factors such as ensuring treatment for all, improving diagnosis, expanding access to testing, and reducing the time between diagnosis and initiation of treatment contributed to this decline. .
The figures show that from 1980 to June 2018, 926,742 AIDS cases were identified in Brazil, an annual record of 40,000 new cases. In 2012, the detection rate of the disease was 21.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, compared with 18.3 in 2017. Over the same period, the AIDS mortality rate dropped from 5.7 deaths per 100 inhabitants at 4.8 deaths. The report also reports a significant reduction in the vertical transmission of HIV – when the baby is infected during pregnancy – between 2007 and 2017. The rate fell by 43%, from 3.5 cases per 100,000 population to 2 cases.
Men
The data also show that 73% of new HIV infections in Brazil occur in men, and 70% of cases are in men aged 15 to 39 years.
Self test
The ministry announced that starting in January 2019, the public health network would now offer self-diagnosis of HIV to key populations and people taking antiretroviral drugs. A total of 400,000 test units are expected to be distributed in the cities of São Paulo, Santos, Piracicaba, São José do Rio Preto, Ribeirao Preto, São Bernardo do Campo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, Florianopolis, Salvador, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte and Manaus.
Treatment
According to the epidemiological bulletin, since 2013, when antiretrovirals were distributed to all HIV-positive patients, regardless of their viral load, 585,000 people living with HIV were treated in Brazil in September of this year. Most – 87% – use dolutegravir, which increases the risk of viral suppression (reduction of HIV blood load) by 42% compared to previous treatment. The answer in this case is also faster: in the third month, more than 87% of users already have a viral suppression.
fight
Blenda Silva, 25, diagnosed HIV-positive for a year and a half, says that it is possible to live normally as long as the treatment is followed. After 30 years of fighting HIV, celebrated on Saturday (1st), World AIDS Day, she recalls that many have lost their lives in recent decades because of the disease.
"The number of people infected is still very high, and our message today is that prevention still needs to be done," he said, referring to more than 37 million people living with HIV around the world. "This is a fight that should not be exclusively composed of HIV-positive people, but of all Brazilian society," he concluded.
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