HIV/AIDS 10 Things to Know Before the Year Ends

Living

Here are 10 things to know about HIV/AIDS as this year ends

  1. Despite the number of people living with the HIV steadily climbing over time, the global health community has made significant strides in treating and managing the HIV virus and AIDS.
  2. Deaths from HIV and AIDS have fallen since its peak in 2004, when nearly 2 million people died from the disease.
  3. Millions of people can now access antiretroviral therapy: a number that has skyrocketed since 2000, when just 611,000 people were able to receive the therapy.
  4. New HIV infections are down (in 2017, there were 1.8 million new HIV infections, a number that has been steadily declining since its peak in 1996, when there were 3.4 million new infections.)
  5. TB does remain the leading cause of death for people with HIV and is accounting for about 33% of deaths.
  6. People living with HIV who do not have TB symptoms need preventative therapy, which lessens the risk of developing TB and reduces death rates by around 40%.
  7. An estimated 49% of people with HIV and TB are not aware of their condition, and therefore are not accessing therapy.
  8. Each week, there are around 7,000 women aged 15 to 24 being infected with HIV.
  9. In sub-Saharan Africa 3 out of the 4 new infections among teenagers aged 15 to 19 are found in girls.
  10. In 2017, about 75 % of people with HIV knew their status. Among those who knew, 4 in 5 were getting treatment.

For more and up-to-date information go to UNAIDS ( the U.N. agency advocating for a coordinated global response to treating HIV and AIDS).

NEWS: There is a vaginal ring that releases the antiretroviral drug dapivirine to ward off HIV infection. The ring is now going into wider distribution in sub-Saharan Africa, where girls and young women age 15 to 24 accounted for more than 77% of new HIV infections in 2022 (according to UNAIDS).

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An avid bird watcher with an extraordinary fondness for chikanda ( a Zambian delicatessen that vegans and non-vegans world-wide are putting on their bucket list ) she often tweets in poetry and short prose @kwachalelo