Aids-German Hilfe warns against new infections | NDR.de – Guide

Last updated: 23.07.2018 13:09

More than 15,000 scientists, activists, patients and politicians meet in Amsterdam for the 22nd World Conference on HIV / AIDS AIDS. It is to contain the global HIV epidemic. Originally, according to the United Nations AIDS Program (Unaids) 2014, the spread of the HIV virus is expected to be halted by 2030. In the meantime, this is considered barely feasible. In about 50 countries worldwide, the number of new infections is increasing every year. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, their number has doubled.

Nearly 37 million people are currently infected with the HIV virus, most of them living in Africa. Every year, nearly one million people die of AIDS. According to information from Unaids, there would have been 1.8 million new infections in 2017.

Spahn's Pressening for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis

In Germany, Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU ) wants to make a medicine available. The so-called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been available in Germany for about a year. Prep costs around 50 euros a month. The Federal Ministry of Health estimates that about ten thousand people will use Prep.

The reactions to Spahn's plan are divided: health insurance companies reject it and recommend condoms to reduce the risk of infection. Federation spokesman Florian Lanz spoke of "personal responsibility for a health-conscious lifestyle" in the "Ärzteblatt". Medications used to facilitate sexual activity should be paid for by the payers, the spokesman said.

Wicht: Collect money to fight AIDS

The German AIDS Aid views Spahn's decision as a "step". Press spokesperson Holger Wicht announced on NDR Info that he had taken all measures to stem HIV. PrEP prophylaxis against HIV is marketed in countries where there is not much money available, said Wicht. This concerns groups "that we can not easily reach, where condoms may not work as well or where the infection rate remains high."

Wicht stated that the drug could be made very inexpensive. less money "can be used very effectively.However, the subject of AIDS is still to raise enough money for the global fund against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria." Unaids, l & # 39; United Nations agency, just reiterated that all success is at stake when the commitments are not maintained again and again. "

Conference draws the attention of major media

Addressed on the scale of the Amsterdam AIDS conference, with up to 18,000 participants, said the spokesman of the German Aid AIDS, that they bring particular attention to the media for the topic of The event also points out "what is possible." A global scourge that had been an "incredible threat" had become a "manageable disease," said Wicht. "Today, we have all the means to keep HIV at bay, and people living with HIV can to have a normal life, like other people – and they have an almost normal life expectancy when they receive these therapies. "

But this is not the case everywhere. Only 60 percent of infected people in the world receive these drugs. At the same time, there are "extreme mistakes in the treatment of the epidemic in Eastern Europe, so the numbers of infection back there," said the spokesperson for the German aid to AIDS. The hope of the conference is also that countries implement successful strategies in themselves.

Eastern Europe as a new hot spot of HIV

In countries where the number of cases is increasing, prevention is inadequate. This has partly ideological reasons: "In Russia, for example, there is no education for gay men, because homosexuality is considered reprehensible in itself". Do not give drug users access to clean syringes, which is an effective tool that has resulted in lower drug-related infections worldwide. "In Russia, they say that drug addiction is the devil, we do not support these people in their lifestyle." But that would not be enough to stop infections and could also threaten the health of the entire population. "Anything that has been proven around the world in the last 20 to 30 years will be rejected here." The result is that the epidemic worsens, according to Holger Wicht