UNAIDS: Deaths linked to AIDS fell 50% in a decade
A report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) showed that deaths linked to the disease has fallen by half in a decade, dropping from a peak of 1.9 million in 2005 to just 1 million last year.
It said the “scales have tipped”, with more than half of people getting drug treatment for the first time.
An infection caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) cannot be cured – it can only be contained with daily doses of antiretroviral therapy. Unchecked, it destroys the immune system, causing Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). At this point people tend to die from other “opportunistic infections” such as tuberculosis.
Worldwide, 36.7 million are living with HIV and 53% of them are getting the therapy that gives a near-normal life expectancy.
Michel Sidibe, the executive director of UNAIDS, said: “We met the 2015 target of 15 million people on treatment and we are on track to double that number to 30 million and meet the 2020 target.
“We will continue to scale up to reach everyone in need and honor our commitment of leaving no-one behind.”
UNAIDS said eastern and southern Africa were “leading the way” and had cut new HIV infections by nearly a third since 2010.
Life expectancy has increased by 10 years over the past decade too.
The agency has set a series of goals known as the 90-90-90 targets.
The aim is for 90% of people with HIV to be diagnosed, 90% of those to get therapy and 90% of those to have their infection suppressed, by 2020.In 2016 the figures were 70%, 77% and 82% respectively.
Sidibe added that families and communities are thriving as the disease is being pushed back. However, death rates have increased sharply due to inadequate treatment in North Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Eastern Europe, the agency warned.
