With only 70 months left to end AIDS why is the urgency missing?
BOBBY RAMAKANT - CNS
The global AIDS response is not only off-the-target but also slipping by leaps and bounds in some countries or for some communities.
All governments promised to end AIDS by 2030 by committing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) a decade back "where no one is left behind". Undeniably, a lot of progress took place in preventing new HIV infections and helping millions of those living with the virus lead a healthy life worldwide. But this progress is no excuse for complacency or must not be allowed to paralyse us in urgently addressing the acute need of scaling up people-centred and rights-based responses.
Despite having a range of evidence-based HIV-prevention tools, the world saw 1.3 million new people getting diagnosed with HIV in 2023. This is over three times more new infections than what was promised: Leaders had pledged to reduce annual new infections to below 370,000 by 2025.
Despite having best of HIV treatment options to keep people with HIV healthy and well, over 630,000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2023. Compared to 2010 when 1.3 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses, the rate has halved by 2023 -but the number of lost lives in 2023 is 2.5 times more than what our leaders promised to achieve by 2025 (that deaths due to AIDS-related illnesses by 2025 should be less than 250,000).
Acute urgency for accelerating rights-based AIDS response
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