UNAIDS today issued a stark warning that if leaders do not address inequalities, the world could face 7.7 million AIDS-related deaths in the next 10 years.
This is an urgent call to action
UNAIDS further warns that if the necessary transformative steps are not taken to end AIDS. The world will also remain trapped in the crisis of COVID-19 and you will not be dangerously prepared for the pandemics to come.
“This is an urgent call to action,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima. “Progress against the AIDS pandemic, which was already off course. It is now under even greater strain as the COVID-19 crisis continues to rage. Disrupting HIV prevention and treatment services, schooling. Violence prevention programs and more. We cannot be forced to choose between ending the AIDS pandemic today and preparing for the pandemics of tomorrow. The only successful approach will accomplish both. As of now, we are not on track to achieve it either. “
Some countries, including some with the highest HIV rates, have made remarkable progress against AIDS, illustrating what is feasible.
However, new HIV infections are not declining fast enough globally to stop the pandemic. With 1.5 million new HIV infections in 2020 and rising HIV infection rates in some countries.
COVID-19 is undermining the AIDS response in many places
COVID-19 is undermining the AIDS response in many places. The pace of HIV testing declined almost uniformly, and fewer people living with HIV started treatment in 2020 in 40 of the 50 countries reporting to UNAIDS.
HIV prevention services have been affected. In 2020, harm reduction services for people who use drugs were discontinued in 65% of the 130 countries surveyed.
“It is still possible to end the epidemic by 2030,” said United Nations Secretary General António Guterres in his World AIDS Day message. But that will require intensified action and greater solidarity. To defeat AIDS and build resilience in the face of tomorrow’s pandemics, we need collective action. “
AIDS IN MEXICO
Within the framework of the World Day to Fight AIDS that is commemorated this Wednesday, December 1, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) released the National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT) 2018 in which it indicated that during In 2020, 4,573 people died in Mexico due to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); of which 3,815 were men and 758 women.
The Institute pointed out that the mortality rate from this cause is 3.62 people for every 100 thousand inhabitants; 6.19 in the case of men (per 100,000 men) and 1.17 for women (per 100,000 women).
By age group, the highest HIV mortality rate is located in the group of people aged 30 to 44 years, and he highlighted that as age increases, the rate decreases.
By federal entity of residence of the deceased
By federal entity of residence of the deceased, the highest rates of HIV mortality, per 100,000 inhabitants, are: Quintana Roo (10.25), Colima (9.40) and Campeche (7.52). The entities with the lowest rates are Tlaxcala (1.04), Zacatecas (1.17), Guanajuato (1.41), Michoacán (1.43), Durango (1.47), Aguascalientes (1.54), Coahuila (1.96) and Hidalgo (1.98).
Regarding morbidity (number of people who fall ill in a given place and period of time in relation to the total population), from 2010 to July 2021 150,051 new cases of HIV were diagnosed, with 2018 being the year with the highest prevalence with 17,429 cases.
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