World AIDS Day: WHO seeks equal access to HIV prevention, testing, treatment.

AKOR SYLVESTER-Abuja

World Health Organization (WHO) has emphasised the need for countries to strive to ensure that everyone, everywhere, has equal access to HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and care, including COVID-19 vaccinations and services.

In a statement to mark the World HIV/AIDS Day yesterday in Abuja, WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti the call was necessary to  curb the spread of the virus in the continent.

She said, there should be urgent need to end the inequities that drive AIDS and other epidemics around the world.

According to her, it has been 40 years since the first HIV cases were reported, yet in Africa and globally, it remains a major public health concern.

“Last year, two out of every three new HIV infections occurred in the African Region, corresponding to almost 2 500 new HIV infections every day. Sadly, AIDS claimed the lives of 460 000 people, or a shocking 1 300 every day, in spite of free access to effective treatment.

She maintained that the continent as a whole is unlikely to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 as it has fell short of the expected 75% reduction in new HIV infections and 81% reduction in AIDS-related deaths by 2020. “Despite the very high percentages of people living with HIV who know their status, and treatment rates, new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths are not decreasing concomitantly.

“It also critical for us to reach those who are fuelling the epidemic, addressing the persistent inequities in the provision of quality care and interventions. For instance, in West and Central Africa last year, key populations and their sexual partners accounted for 72% of new adult HIV infections. Yet punitive laws, policies, hostile social and cultural environments, and stigma and discrimination, including in the health sector, prevent them from accessing services.

“In Sub-Saharan Africa, young women are twice as likely to be living with HIV than men. For adolescents aged 15 to19 years, three in every five new infections are among girls who don’t have access to comprehensive sexuality education, who face sexual and gender-based violence, and live with harmful gender norms. They also have less access to school than their male peers.

“With COVID-19, people living with HIV appear to be at elevated risk for virus-related illness and death. Nearly 70% live in the WHO African Region, where only 4.5% of people are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Therefore, addressing inequality is critical to ending both AIDS and COVID-19 and preventing future pandemics – potentially saving millions of lives, and safeguarding our society.

“This World AIDS Day, I urge governments to prioritize investment in health funding for community-led, human rights-based, gender transformative responses. We must boost our essential health workforce, and secure equitable access to life-saving medicines and health technologies.

“Global solidarity and shared responsibility are critical components of the kind of rights-based approach we need if we are to end HIV/AIDS and COVID-19″..