Report: Community support essential in HIV reduction

The pace of progress in reducing new HIV infections, increasing access to treatment and ending AIDS-related deaths is slowing down, according to a new report released by UNAIDS on Tuesday.

The report, titled "UNAIDS Global AIDS Update, Communities at the Centre", shows a mixed picture. Some countries have made impressive gains, while others are experiencing a rise in new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths.

Globally, around 1.7 million people became newly infected with HIV in 2018 — a 16 percent decline since 2010, driven mostly by steady progress across most of eastern and southern Africa. South Africa, for example, has made huge advances and successfully reduced new HIV infections by more than 50 percent and AIDS-related deaths by around 40 percent since 2010, the report stated.

However, there have been worrying increases in new HIV infections in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (29 percent), in the Middle East and North Africa (10 percent) and in Latin America (7 percent).

The number of people newly undergoing treatment every year has been steadily increasing since 2010, reaching 23.3 million of the 37.9 million people living with HIV last year. Around 770,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses, a significant reduction from the 1.7 million people who perished at the peak of the epidemic in 2004, according to the report.