Inequalities continue to hold back progress in attaining the global goal of eradicating AIDS by 2030.
As such, the World Health Organisation is calling on global leaders and citizens to recognise and address the inequalities in meeting the 2030 goal.
Under the theme “Equalise”, the WHO said it is vital to ensure essential HIV services reached those who are most at risk and in need, particularly children living with HIV, key populations dealing with HIV, and their partners.
“With global solidarity and bold leadership, we can ensure that everyone receives the care they need,” said WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“World AIDS Day is an opportunity to reaffirm and refocus our shared commitment to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030,” he added.
According to the WHO, HIV remains a major public health issue that affects millions of people worldwide. But the response is at risk of falling behind.
Of the 38 million people living with HIV:
- 5.9 million, who know they have HIV, are not receiving treatment;
- A further four million people living with HIV have not yet been diagnosed;
- While 76 per cent of adults overall were receiving antiretroviral (ARV) treatment that help them lead normal and healthy lives, only 52 per cent of children living with HIV were accessing this treatment globally in 2021;
- 70 per cent of new HIV infections are among people who are marginalised and often criminalised;
- While transmission has declined overall in Africa, there has been no significant decline among men who have sex with men – a key population group – in the past 10 years.
WHO added that available data among people confirmed to have mpox (previously known as Monkeypox), a high number of them – 52 per cent – were people living with HIV.
The world health body said global data suggested that people living with mpox with untreated HIV appeared to be at risk of more severe diseases than people without HIV.
The current response to mpox showed that transmission can move quickly in sexual networks and within marginalised populations. But it can also be prevented through community-led responses and open attitudes to address stigma. Additionally, health and wellbeing can be improved, and lives saved.
In Malaysia, the Health Ministry said new HIV/AIDS infections in the country had dropped by 70 per cent in the last 20 years.
The ministry said ARV medication coverage for patients living with HIV/AIDS rose to 66 per cent in 2021, up from 28 per cent in 2015.
“However, the drop in figures is not enough to declare Malaysia free of the AIDS epidemic, as inequalities is an obstacle to achieving this goal,” the ministry said in a statement today.
“We urge all parties, including non-governmental organisations, the private sector, corporate bodies, and the public, to work together to address the inequalities related to HIV/AIDS.”
The ministry said it will continue stigma and discrimination reduction programmes that have been put in place to minimise such behaviour by healthcare personnel towards people living with HIV/AIDS, and by improving the quality of services at medical facilities.
The programme, the ministry said, was available at 55 medical facilities across the country this year and there are plans for its expansion “to every medical facility in the near future”, the ministry added.
As of 2021, it was reported that 67,822 people were living with HIV.
The Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) said successful harm reduction programme coverage and implementation, had resulted in HIV prevalence among those who injected drugs to drop from 18.9 per cent in 2012, to 13.4 per cent in 2019.
This, according to MAC, reflects an epidemiological shift away from transmission via injecting drugs, to sexual transmission, particularly among men who have sex with men.
MAC president Prof Dr Iskandar Shah Raja Azwa said an innovative way to get people to come forward and get tested is through the JOMTEST platform, a web-based self-testing platform under MAC.
“Through this platform, potential testers can order a free oral, or blood-based HIV self-test kit online, which can be delivered to them to enable tests to be done in the privacy of their own homes, with additional support if required,” Dr Iskandar said.
“Of the 1,077 clients who provided online consent and returned the test results, 45 per cent reached young people aged between 20 and 24 years, while 49 per cent had never tested for HIV before,” he added.
