With the dawn of a new decade, the United Nations has set an ambitious goal to end the AIDS epidemic by 2024, a target that has sparked both optimism and skepticism among global health experts.
The United Nations said on July 22 that decisions that political leaders take in 2024 will determine whether a target to end Aids as a public health threat by 2030 can be reached.
Figures from 2023 show a global improvement in the number of new infections and the treatment of HIV-positive patients, as well as a fall in the number of fatalities, but the United Nations’ Aids agency (UNAids) warned that such progress remains fragile.
It is estimated that nearly 40 million people are living with HIV, the virus that can cause acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or Aids, the new UN report said.
Around 1.3 million new infections were recorded in 2023, an increase of 100,000 compared with 2022 but a significant fall since a peak of 3.3 million in 1995.
But the long-term trend is still way off a UNAids target of 330,000 new infections in 2025.
Figures for Aids-related deaths are also down, from 670,000 in 2022 to 630,000 in 2023, according to the report.
Access to antiretroviral medication is a major issue, with 30.7 million patients receiving such treatment compared with just 7.7 million in 2010. But the figure falls far short of a target of 34 million set for 2025.
Eastern and southern Africa remain the most-affected regions, with 20.8 million people living with HIV, 450,000 infected in 2023 and 260,000 fatalities.
While recognising the progress, UNAids chief Winnie Byanyima said the world is not on the right track to reaching the agency’s 2030 objectives.
Since its discovery in the early 1980s, AIDS has claimed millions of lives, leaving behind a trail of devastation and despair.
The unprecedented progress in medical research, advocacy, and international cooperation has brought about significant decline in the number of new infections and AIDS-related deaths.
Yet, with still over over million people living with HIV worldwide, the UN’s 2024 deadline poses a daunting challenge: can the world come together to finally vanquish this formidable foe, or will the goal remain an elusive dream?
