More ‘political commitment’ needed urgently for HIV prevention: UNAIDS chief

As HIV infections continue to rise, UNAIDS — the UN agency leading the global effort to end the public health threat posed by the virus — called on 24 July for countries to boost prevention measures and continue facilitating access to treatment.

Around 1.8 million people became newly infected with HIV and around 50 countries experienced a rise in new HIV infections during last year, according to Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS, who was speaking at the ongoing International AIDS Conference in the Netherlands.

“Health is a human rights imperative and we are deeply concerned about the lack of political commitment and the failure to invest in proven HIV programmes, particularly for young people and key populations,” said the UNAIDS chief, in a press release. “If countries think they can treat their way out of their epidemics, they are dangerously mistaken,” he added.

According to a new UNAIDS report “Miles to go—closing gaps, breaking barriers, righting injustices,“ 47 percent of new HIV infections globally affect key vulnerable populations.

To urgently address this “HIV prevention crisis” and increase political commitment for HIV prevention, a Global HIV Prevention Coalition of United Nations Member States, donors, civil society organizations, and implementers was established in 2017 that includes the 25 countries which bear the highest HIV burden. Their goal is to reduce new HIV infections by 75 percent by 2020.

According to UNAIDS, countries, and cities that have adequately invested are seeing results. Helsinki in Finland and San Francisco in the United States, are stark examples where bold policies for HIV prevention have led to sharp declines in the number of new infections.

The UN agency stresses that women and youth need targeted approaches as they are often more vulnerable and, therefore, more at risk of exposure.

While most countries have significantly scaled up their HIV treatment programmes, some to the extent of reaching 80 percent of people living with HIV with antiretroviral therapy, many are not being diagnosed and treated soon enough, allowing transmissions to occur before they start treatment or if treatment is interrupted.

Original source: UN News
Published on 24 July 2018