World Health Organisation (WHO) reiterates commitment to creating a world where AIDS is no longer a public health threat . An estimated 1.5 million people got HIV in 2021, and approximately 650 000 people died as a result of AIDS .
New Delhi, India, November 30: On World AIDS Day, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reiterated its commitment to achieving a world in which AIDS is no longer a public health danger, leaving no individual, group, or population behind.According to a WHO press release, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia, Poonam Khetrapal Singh said that on World AIDS Day, every region, nation, and region is being partnered to ensure that everyone has equal access to An estimated 1.5 million people got HIV in 2021, and approximately 650 000 people died as a result of AIDS.An estimated 3.8 million people are infected with HIV in the South-East Asia Region, accounting for about 10% of the world's burden.Around 82 000 people in the Region died as a result of AIDS-related diseases in 2021, accounting for more than 12% of the global burden.
Whereas in 2010, coverage of anti-retroviral therapy in the area was just 17%, it had increased to 61% by 2020.The Maldives and Sri Lanka were both recognized to have eradicated mother-to-child HIV and congenital syphilis in 2019, as Thailand achieved in 2016—the first Asian nation to do so—simply because despite great progress, the Region fell short of the 90-90-90 targets, which were also missed globally.Both the region and the world committed to ensure that 95 percent of all people living with HIV know their status by 2025, that 95 percent of all people with suspected HIV disease receive sustained anti-retroviral therapy, and that 95 percent of all people receiving anti-retroviral therapy experience viral suppression in December 2020.Nearly 95% of new HIV infections are prevalent in populations such as sex workers, those who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, and transgender people around the region. Both within and outside the countries, access to game-changing advances such as HIV self-testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis is incredibly limited.The WHO has also called for change in several key areas.Firstly, policymakers and programme managers should expedite HIV services' availability, quality, and sustainability, while also ensuring that all, especially vulnerable populations, are well-served and actively integrated into the service delivery process.Second, political figures and other key influencers should immediately introduce rules, policies, and tactics that promote both direct and indirect discrimination, misogyny, and marginalization. All countries and communities must have access to the best HIV science, technologies, and tools, which should be supplemented by evidence-based recommendations on how to deliver them, especially through increased South-South cooperation and learning.Fourthly, programme managers and other health officials should take concrete steps to involve and support communities, civil society, and the affected populations, whose experiences should inform both policy and service delivery as well as ongoing progress monitoring, according to the release.We must end every inequality and accelerate progress toward our goals and objectives as a team.On World AIDS Day, WHO reiterates its commitment to creating a world where AIDS is no longer a public health threat, leaving no one, group, or group behind, according to the paper.