The number of deaths caused by HIV could double in sub-Saharan Africa if patients' access to treatment was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, the UN warned on May 11.
A six-month disruption in access to antiretrovirals could cause more than 500,000 additional deaths in the region in a year between 2020 and 2021, adding to the 470,000 deaths recorded in 2018, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS. Unheard of since 2008, when 950,000 people had died of AIDS in the region.
Erase progress
In 2018, the year of the last available statistical data, 25.7 million people were living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, of which 16.4 million were receiving antiretroviral treatment.
A breakdown in prevention campaigns, access to care and treatment could also erase the progress made in preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV, while the number of infected children has dropped by 43 % between 2010 and 2018, going from 250,000 to 140,000 children. Infant infections could jump 37% in Mozambique, 78% in Malawi and Zimbabwe, and 104% in Uganda.
“Do not falter in HIV prevention efforts”
"There is a risk that the victories won in the fight against AIDS will be sacrificed during the battle against the Covid-19," warned UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima, quoted in the joint statement.
In a statement released last week, UNAIDS urged governments to "not falter in their HIV prevention efforts and ensure that people continue to have access to the services they need to avoid infection, discrimination and violence, but also to be able to enjoy their sexual and reproductive health and related rights ”.
"Large-scale loss of income and jobs could lead to more paid sex, sex work and sexual exploitation. This will put people at increased risk of contracting HIV unless they have the means to protect themselves, ”the agency worried. Since the AIDS virus appeared more than 35 years ago, 78 million people have been infected and 35 million have died, according to UNAIDS.
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