UN warns world AIDS still at crossroads

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that the HIV response stood at a crossroads, 30 years after the first World AIDS Day.

Guterres, in his message for the 2018 World AIDS Day, yesterday said “more than 77 million people have become infected with HIV, and more than 35 million have died of an AIDS-related illness.”

According to him, the direction taken now, may determine whether the epidemic can be ended by 2030, or if future generations will have to continue the battle, he said.

Noting that huge progress has been made in diagnosis and treatment, and prevention efforts have avoided millions of new infections, he stressed that “the pace of progress is not matching global ambition.

“New HIV infections are not falling rapidly enough,” he said, adding that some regions are lagging, and financial resources are insufficient.

He said stigma and discrimination continued to hold people back, especially key populations – including men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgenders, intravenous drug users, prisoners and migrants – and young women and adolescent girls.

He added that one-in-four people living with HIV did not know that they had the virus, keeping them from making informed decisions on prevention, treatment and other services.

The UN chief said “there is still time” to scale-up testing for HIV; to enable more people to access treatment; to increase resources needed to prevent new infections; and to end the stigma.