Today is World AIDS Day, a day when we are once again reminded that though significant progress has been made in ending HIV/AIDS, the fight is not yet over.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is marking World AIDS Day with a call for countries to address the inequalities that prevent progress towards ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
This year, the theme of the day is “Equality”.
Around 2.5 million people live with HIV in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2021, approximately 120,000 people became infected with the virus and a further 35,000 lost their lives from AIDS-related causes, according to PAHO.
“Access to testing and the implementation of innovations for early diagnosis, prevention and timely treatment continue to be affected by inequality, which is slowing our progress towards eliminating AIDS,” PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne said.
“This is unacceptable given the powerful tools at our disposal to make AIDS a public health problem of the past.”
According to PAHO, while 82 percent of people living with HIV in Latin America and the Caribbean know their status, only 69 percent receive antiretroviral treatment and 63 percent have a suppressed or undetectable viral load, which is essential for maintaining good health and preventing transmission of the virus to others.
Among the tools available to eliminate AIDS are self-administered tests, drugs to prevent infection in people at substantial risk (pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP), and new drugs that are more effective and easier to take for those already living with HIV, such as dolutegravir, recommended by the World Health Organization as a first line of treatment.
While several countries in the region are accessing these tools through PAHO’s Strategic Fund, this access remains inequitable and many in most affected populations continue to miss out, PAHO stated.
Currently, only 14 countries in the region have HIV self-testing available, 25 countries have introduced dolutegravir, and only a very limited number of people at substantial risk of HIV infection receive PrEP.
“To change course, we need an integrated response, extended to all communities at risk. We must address stigma and discrimination to broaden access” to diagnosis, prevention and treatment for all, the PAHO director said.
Etienne also called on countries to address the challenges posed by COVID-19, which impacted the HIV response, and recognized the work of health workers and authorities in the region in implementing alternatives to face-to-face care and drug delivery during the pandemic.
“The end of AIDS and many other infectious diseases can only be achieved if we tackle the barriers that prevent access to services and tools for those who need them the most,” she concluded.
Data from UNAIDS on the global HIV response reveals that during the last two years of COVID-19 and other global crises, progress against the HIV pandemic has faltered, resources have shrunk, and millions of lives are at risk as a result.
In The Bahamas, authorities recently marked progress.
In September, health officials reported there was a 53 percent drop in HIV diagnoses in the country between 2010 and 2019.
According to Minister of Health and Wellness Dr. Michael Darville, 95 percent of people in The Bahamas living with HIV now know their HIV status.
He said 73 percent of individuals who know their status were on treatment and 81 percent of those on treatment were virally suppressed.
“The Bahamas has reached the moment where we are able to say that tremendous progress is being made and the end of the AIDS epidemic is in sight,” Darville said.
Between 2010 and 2019, AIDS deaths in the country decreased by 40 percent and the number of newly reported HIV diagnoses decreased by 53 percent.
The Bahamas has also seen significant progress in eliminating mother to child transmission.
There were no babies born with HIV in The Bahamas in the years 2010, 2015, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
With diligence and a commitment to ensuring equality in the four-decades-long fight against this scourge, we are hopeful that the goal of ending AIDS by 2030 will be achieved and look forward to celebrating this milestone accomplishment.