In the shadow of the coronavirus, the threat of an AIDS explosion in Africa

AIDS march in Durban, South Africa, July 18, 2016. REUTERS / Stringer

Text by: Jérémie Lanche

The death toll could double in sub-Saharan Africa during the pandemic.

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From our correspondent in Geneva

We predicted a dark scenario for Africa in the event of a coronavirus pandemic. The figures are for the moment much less worrying than announced. With less than 50,000 officially registered cases, the continent is even the least affected. Except that because of the Covid-19, the entire health sector is disrupted. With the risk of seeing certain diseases explode. This is the case with AIDS.

► Read also:  South Africa: HIV and coronavirus, the double penalty

There are several reasons to believe that HIV may increase in intensity. Already, because health services are monopolized by the fight against the coronavirus. With fewer staff to do prevention or to test for HIV. The coronavirus pandemic has also greatly disrupted drug supply systems.

However, in sub-Saharan Africa, a break in antiretrovirals for six months is half a million more deaths. “  If this scenario is confirmed, it would take the fight against HIV more than ten years back, when sub-Saharan Africa recorded more than 950,000 deaths per year. It's a scenario. Not a prediction. But it must serve as a wake-up call to ensure the proper functioning of all essential health services  , ”explains Tedros Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO.

In detail, infections among children could jump 37% in Mozambique, 78% in Malawi and Zimbabwe, and double entirely in Uganda. The UN calls on states not to sacrifice the fight against AIDS in the battle against Covid-19. Almost 26 million people were living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa in 2018, nearly two-thirds of whom were on antiretroviral therapy. 

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  • WHO
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