The UN warns that the global fight against AIDS is slowing

Since the beginning of the epidemic in the 1980s, more than 77 million people have been infected with HIV and about 35.4 million have died of AIDS. Photo: Archivo

UNAIDS, the United Nations agency that promotes the goal of ending the epidemic by 2030, warned in a report that the struggle World AIDS Day begins to stagnate and does not come down The number of new infections in the world is quite fast .

According to UNAIDS data for 2017, 36.9 million people are living with the disease, 21.7 million are living with a low rate of HIV. antiretroviral therapy, and 1.8 million new infections were registered last year

The UNAIDS report calls for immediate action, since the annual number of new infections has been reduced by only 18 percent during the last seven years – from 2.2 million in 2010 to 1.8 million in 2017 – which is not enough to reach the goal of 500 thousand by 2020 .

Michel Sidibé, executive director of the organization, said that " regions between They are late, the huge achievements we have made for children are not maintained, women are still the most affected, resources still do not match political commitments, and key populations continue to be ignored all of which hinder progress and need to be addressed urgently. "

Although In 2017, 80% of pregnant women living with HIV had access to antiretroviral drugs to prevent the transmission of the virus to their children, UNAIDS reports that 180,000 children became infected with HIV during pregnancy. Childbirth or breastfeeding during this year .

Sidibé noted that more than 50% of children without access to treatment remain . ] and last year there were 110 thousand dead and 180 thousand new infections among them. He is inadmissible. "

At the same time, it remains that the progress of the infant population is insufficient, although since 2010 the annual number of new infections has fallen for a total of 1.4 million

En general, UNAIDS figures show that in 2017 940 thousand people died of AIDS-related diseases in the world, the lowest figure of this century and a decrease compared to 2016, when they were 990 thousand In number of deaths, the worst year was in 2005, with 1.9 million people in the world.

The decrease largely meets access to therapies retroviral, which, according to the UNAIDS data of 2017, they reach 21.7 million people infected (out of a total of 36.9 million), while in 2016 they reached 19.4 ( out of a total of 36.3 million.]

However, the executive director of the organization has warned that to maintain the scope of treatments at this level "misses seven billion dollars a year."

" If we do not have these resources, there is a significant risk of regrowing the disease. Epidemic with an increased risk of resistance and mortality, "he said.

The access levels of infected people to treatments vary, from 40% of patients in West and Central Africa, to 61 percent in Latin America, where in 2017 a figure of 1.8 percent was reported.

In addition to the need for funds to deal with the epidemic, Sidibé drew attention to the fact that "at least 44 countries depend on 75% of aid international fight against the epidemic ". [19659003Conclusionoftheconclusionthat"thepopulationofcelebrationshavebeengreatlyaccountedintheprogrammesoftheVIHsoftheGovernmentsandthekeypopulationsandtheirexternalparticipantsrepresent47%ofnewinfectionsinVIHinthecountry"

The risk of contracting HIV is 13 times higher among sex workers, 27 times higher among men who have sex with men, 23 times more among drug users injectables and 12 times more among transgender women

Prejudice and discrimination persist . In 19 countries, one in five people living with HIV interviewed by UNAIDS said that medical assistance had been denied and one in five had avoided going to a health center for fear of stigma or discrimination. In five of the 13 countries, more than 40% of those surveyed felt that HIV-positive children should not go to school with uninfected children.

Sidibé believes that after the progress of recent years, "we are sleeping on our laurels and facing a crisis of prevention. The fear is that the decline in contributions from international donors will lead to a reversal of domestic investments in affected countries . "

" New HIV infections are not declining fast enough HIV prevention services are not available on an adequate scale, and they are not enough to prevent HIV infection. do not reach the people who need it most, "he said

(According to information provided by agencies and UNAIDS)