Harare (Zimbabwe), Dec. 12, GNA – West and Central Africa have the second-highest number of people living with HIV in the world, with an estimated 5.9 million according to 2020 data, Dr. Pagwesese David Parirenyatwa, President of the Society for AIDS in Africa (SAA), has revealed.
Quoting from the UNAIDS Global AIDS Update 2022 Report entitled: In Danger- Revealing the Potentially Catastrophic Impacts of COVID-19 on Health Systems Worldwide,” it noted that “the world is in danger if we don’t take stock and shore up HIV health systems immediately.”
Even though new HIV infections continued to decline, in the two regions there were an estimated 160,000 new HIV infections in 2020, a decrease of 19 percent compared to 2010.
“Despite this decline, the region still has the second-highest number of people living with HIV in the world, with an estimated 5.9 million people living with HIV in 2020,” Dr. Parirenyatwa revealed at the just-ended 22nd edition of the International Conference on Aids and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA) in Harare, Zimbabwe.
ICASA 2023 started on December 4th and ended on December 9th, on the general theme: “AIDS is not over: Address inequalities, accelerate inclusion, and innovate,” and was organised by the Society for AIDS in Africa in collaboration with the government of Zimbabwe and other partners, including the World Health Organisation, the Global Fund, and others.
Dr. Parirenyatwa revealed that in East and Southern Africa, the number of new HIV infections remained stable, with an estimated 1.4 million new HIV infections in 2020.
“These regions are still the most affected by the HIV epidemic, with an estimated 25.8 million people living with HIV in 2020.
“In the Middle East and North Africa regions, the number of new HIV infections continued to increase, with an estimated 70,000 new HIV infections in 2020.
“This marks a 23 percent increase compared to 2010, reflecting the ongoing HIV epidemic in the region,” Dr. Parirenyatwa stated.
He noted that world leaders could end AIDS by 2030; however, faltering progress had meant that approximately 1.5 million new HIV infections occurred last year; that number represents more than one million new HIV infections than the agreed-upon global targets.
Speaking on “monitoring and use of data to improve differentiated HIV testing services in Ghana,” Dr. Stephen Ayisi Addo, Programme Manager for the National AIDS/STI Control Programme (NACP), urged African nations to examine the many interconnected crises with a critical eye.
He emphasised the critical necessity to investigate the catastrophic effects on HIV-positive individuals.
Dr. Ayisi Addo described the alarming new facts in the “UNAIDS Global AIDS Update 2022 Report” in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Harare, Zimbabwe.
He highlighted that “insufficient attention, innovation, and investment on the ground are putting the globe in danger” and claimed that resources have been drying up, growth has been stalling, and inequality has been growing.
“If we keep going in the same direction,” Dr Ayisi Addo warned, “millions more people will contract HIV and STIs and millions more people will die from AIDS-related diseases.”
