As the world observed the 34th World AIDS Day on Dec 1, it is time to take stock of the current world current scenario as far as our achievements and failures in containing the disease are concerned. This will help us draw up a roadmap for what needs to be done next.
India, like other nations, has a commmitment to end AIDS by 2030 under its 2017 National Health Policy as well as UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the country. However, akin to the maxim “Man proposes – God disposes’’, we are being put in a tight-spot. Grappling with Covid-19 pandemic for almost two years, we have ended up neglecting other crucial health issues like HIV, Tuberculosis, other infectious diseases and noninfectious health emergencies and exigencies. That resulted in the non-achievement of WHO target 9090-90 by 2020; which meant that 90% of people with HIV should know their status, 90% of HIV infected people who know their status should be put on Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) and 90% of those on ART should have their HIVViral loads suppressed.
Thanks to scientific research and strong evidence, we today have tools to effectively prevent transmission of HIV, diagnose HIV, treat people living with HIV (PLHIV) so that they live fulfilling normal lives and manage comorbidities as well as co-infections, but we have not satisfactorily leveraged this knowledge into action. That is why, in 2020 — when the world was reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic — 1.5 million people were newly infected with HIV, and 680,000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses globally.
This story is from the December 2021 edition of Future Medicine India.
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This story is from the December 2021 edition of Future Medicine India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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