UN Says 4K People Globally Are Infected with HIV Daily, Marginalised Are the Most Vulnerable

• The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS' latest report shows that every day, 4 000 people worldwide are infected with HIV
• Marginalised groups are the most vulnerable and make up a large percentage of the daily infection rate
• The programme wants to eradicate HIV/AIDS by 2030, but current infection rates pose a threat to the achievement of this goal

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has published a report which states that 4 000 people worldwide are infected with HIV on a daily basis. Marginalised groups remain the most vulnerable and susceptible to the virus.

UNAIDS's goal is to eliminate AIDS before 2030. However, current infection rates are working against this goal and pose a threat to the world's ability to reach it.

An estimated 38 million people globally have HIV, with 70% of them living on the African continent, SABC News reports.

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Links between how HIV and COVID-19 are handled

Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of UNAIDS, has said that there are parallels between how HIV/AIDS and Covid-19 have been responded to. Both pandemics show a lack of preparation and control, which means that serious planning needs to be done for future pandemics.

According to The Citizen, UNAIDS' report suggested the implementation of five Global AIDS Strategies which need to urgently be prioritised. These relate to how HIV/AIDS must be responded to and prevented.

The report stated that the marginalised groups which are most at risk of infection are prisoners, sex workers, male homosexuals and intravenous drug users. Due to the phenomenon of under-reporting, not all information may be known.

Reactions to HIV infection figures

@GraphicsMiz believes:

"And when they die, they blame it on Covid 19."

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@sandangcobo_ said:

"We need the same fighting spirit done for Covid be done on corruption."

@HamahNsubuga shared:

"Many children face HIV stigma at school, we need more sensitisation in schools by providing with updated information on HIV, the new science and technology innovation of HIV."

@the_writa remarked:

"The way we all forgot about HIV though."

SA marvels as woman’s body rids itself of HIV

Previously, Briefly News reported that a woman in Esperanza, Argentina's immune system healed itself from HIV. This is the second known case in the world of someone's body clearing itself of the virus.

Archives of Internal Medicine, a medical journal, published this case study which referred to the woman as the "Esperanza patient."

According to the journal, doctors tested over a billion of the patient's cells and could not find an HIV infection in any of them. The woman, whose identity remains anonymous, was first diagnosed with HIV in 2013.

Source: Briefly News