2023-08-13 22:00:00
Utopia? It is still “possible” to end AIDS by 2030, but a growing financing gap is holding back the acceleration of progress, the United Nations said on July 13 in a press release. The roadmap presented in the new rapport of UNAIDS “shows that success is possible during this decade”, underlined the executive director of the organization, Winnie Byanyima. “Ending AIDS is above all a political and financial choice”, according to UNAIDS, which calls for “fighting inequalities, supporting communities and civil society organizations in the response and guaranteeing adequate and sustainable funding”. . Winnie Byanyima noted in this regard that progress has been greatest in the countries and regions that have invested the most financially, citing Eastern and Southern Africa where new infections have decreased by 57% since 2010. Botswana, Eswatini, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe have already reached the so-called “95-95-95” targets: which means that 95% of people living with HIV know their HIV status, that 95% of these people are on life-saving antiretroviral treatment and that 95% of people on treatment are virally suppressed (and therefore do not transmit the virus). Sixteen other countries, including eight in sub-Saharan Africa — the region where 65% of HIV-positive people live — are on track to achieve this goal. “The end of AIDS is an opportunity for today’s leaders to leave a legacy of exceptional power”, wants to believe Winnie Byanyima in this roadmap. Yet in 2022, one person would still die from AIDS every minute, and nearly 9.2 million people are still not on treatment, including 660,000 HIV-positive children. Several obstacles are holding back the acceleration of progress. Laws that criminalize most-at-risk populations or their practices are still in effect in much of the world, UNAIDS said. When “leaders ignore, isolate and criminalize people living with HIV or at risk of infection, progress in the AIDS response is hampered and more and more people contract the virus”, points out the UN agency. Another daunting challenge is financing the global response. After increasing significantly in the early 2010s, it fell back last year to the same level as in 2013. In 2022, a total of $20.8 billion was available for HIV programs in countries low- and middle-income, down 2.6% from 2021 and well below the $29.3 billion deemed necessary by 2025.
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