Global Statistics
According to UN AIDS global statistics, life expectancy of young people living with HIV in the developed countries before treatment with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) was +8 years. Today, the expected impact of HIV treatment on a survival of a young person living with AIDS is +55 years.
As we can see, whereas life expectancy in the high-income developed countries is almost the same as that of a non-infected person, the situation is much more different in the developing world. As a matter of fact, the most alarming data on HIV infections refer to Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically eastern and southern Africa are still the region most affected by the HIV epidemic.
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- HIV Treatment AccessThe access to antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has proved to be highly important to reach the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and end HIV epidemics.
Since 2016, more than half of all people living with HIV were accessing antiretroviral therapy. This has contributed to more than one third of global decline in AIDS-related deaths and a 16% global decline in new HIV infections between 2010 and 2016.
- Population at higher risk of HIV infectionIn high HIV prevalence settings, young women remain the segment of population most exposed at risk of HIV infection, whereas the sub-Saharan Africa's regions have the highest HIV prevalence
These data are particularly worrying in eastern and southern Africa, where young women (aged 15–24 years) accounted for 26% of new HIV infections in 2016, as well as in western and central Africa where they accounted for 22%.
In lower prevalence settings, most of HIV infections occur among the groups most vulnerable, also called key populations – namely people who inject drugs (PWID), sex workers, transgender people, prisoners, and gay men and other men who have sex with men – and their sexual partners.
- AIDS Epidemic OverviewOn December 1, 2014, during the World AIDS Day meeting in Paris, 26 key cities alongside with the UNAIDS signed the Paris Declaration on ending AIDS epidemic. Since then, significant progress has been made, with at least two cities - Amsterdam and Melbourne - attaining the UN 2020 goals..
Global access to antiretroviral therapy has been the primary contributor to a 48% decline in deaths from AIDS-related causes. Meanwhile the annual number of new HIV infections has declined by 16% since 2010. In addition to Tuberculosis, deaths from AIDS-related causes also include other viruses such as HCV, HPV as well as several cancers such as Kaposi’s sarcoma, invasive cervical cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
- Amsterdam meets the 2020 International GoalsAmsterdam is among the first cities to reach and exceed the UN 90–90–90 targets, which stand for 90% of all people with HIV should have been tested and know that they have HIV; 90% of these people should be receiving treatment; and in 90% of those people on treatment, the virus should be suppressed so that it can no longer be transmitted.
Although the annual number of HIV diagnoses in the city has declined by nearly half, there is still a significant number of new diagnoses each year among people with advanced infection. Therefore, a major current challenge is to diagnose infections earlier and to link all diagnosed individuals promptly to treatment, according to tha data provided by Stichting HIV Monitoring
- Sub-Saharan Africa's Severe HIV/AIDS EpidemicSub-Saharan Africa is the world’s most affected region. More than half of people living with HIV globally are home to Eastern and Southern Africa region. Antiretroviral therapy has largely contributed to the rapid decrease in AIDS-related mortality in eastern and southern Africa. In 2016, there were 11.7 million people on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the region, three times more than the 2010 numbers.
Nevertheless, AIDS-related illness still remains a leading cause of death in the region. Much more sustained support from international donors in terms of investments and cutting edge scientific research, in addition to further realization of domestic efficiencies, will be needed for ending AIDS in the world’s most affected region.