Doctors without Borders calls on countries to scale up HIV treatment

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAIDS) announced on 6 May that the world will miss critical 2020 targets including the reduction by 50 per cent of HIV-related deaths from 2015 to 2020.

This was announced in the UNAIDS 2020 Global Aids Update Report.

UNAIDS said that 690 000 people died of HIV-related causes in 2019.

While this was the lowest figure since 1993, it is still high and means that the world is not on track to meet their 2020 target.

UNAIDS said that treatment coverage is still too low and, by the end of 2020, only 69 per cent of people in need of antiretroviral treatment had access. This leaves a gap of 12.6 million people in need of HIV treatment.

The report also shows evidence that people living with HIV and tuberculosis are at higher risk of Covid-19-related morbidity and mortality.

UNAIDS also warned of the implications of disruptions of HIV services as a result of Covid-19.

Doctors without Borders (MSF) joins UNAIDS in calling on countries to implement practices to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on HIV treatment services. This includes providing people with HIV with multiple months’ supply of treatment at one time in order to reduce the number of trips to healthcare facilities.

HIV/TB unit coordinator and Covid-19 project leader at MSF South Africa Dr Eric Goemaere said that despite promises, the world will fail the commitment to reduce HIV deaths by the end of 2020, resulting in 820 000 additional needless deaths, according to UNAIDS.

“What these numbers tell us is that HIV-related deaths are not declining fast enough, even before Covid-19. Now, we fear that with any disruption to HIV services due to the pandemic, even more lives will be lost. We cannot afford to backtrack the HIV/AIDS epidemic in light of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Goemaere.

“We must make every effort to redouble our efforts on HIV, continue to scale up HIV treatment, and preserve the hard-won gains and lives saved. We can’t risk backsliding, as the progress to date is too precious not the preserve,” said Goemaere.

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