AIDS warnings

A new joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS report, released last week, contains both hope and warnings for countries which are struggling to cope with this major health threat.

The good part is that the world may see the end of the epidemic by 2030, if the presently known techniques of treatment are implemented effectively and taken to all those who might need them in the coming years.

The report says if there is a smarter scale-up of the current campaign and treatment till 2020, the world will be on track to end the epidemic in the next 10 years.

The notable point is that this goal is without taking into consideration any medical breakthroughs which will ensure prevention and more assured cure of the disease.

The availability of better treatment methods cannot be ruled out in the coming years, as there is much research going on into the disease the world over.

New HIV infections have fallen by 13 per cent in the last three years, though the individual performances of countries vary. AIDS-related deaths are also at their lowest, gradually declining from their peak in 2005.

This is because the anti-retroviral therapy, which is the only known effective method of treatment, is now more widely available in affected and vulnerable regions.  The therapy involves the use of a combination of drugs to suppress the virus and prevent its spread and progression.

The worldwide campaign took this treatment to about 2.3 million people in 2013 and about 13 million people are now covered by it.

The highest number of people living with HIV are  in Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Over 75 per cent of the people in sub-Saharan Africa are considered to have achieved viral suppression now.

The report is of special relevance to India which has the third largest population of people with HIV/AIDS, after South Africa and Nigeria. Though new infections have been cut by over 57 per cent, there are about 2.1 million affected people in the country.

  It is a matter of serious concern that retro-viral therapy is made available to only 36 per cent of the affected people. Other countries in South Asia  and even in Africa have done better than India in this respect. The country’s anti-AIDS campaign and programmes should pay more attention to this.

The report recommends adoption of  people-centred approaches by all countries, so that there are better results in quicker time.