The United Nations has said HIV-related deaths dropped 33% since 2010, but warned that more funding is needed to control the spread of the disease. The Middle East and eastern Europe have seen infection levels rise.
Image: pictur-alliance/dpa/F. von Erichsen
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In its annual AIDS report released Tuesday, the UN said that HIV-related deaths in 2018 fell to around 770,000, which is 33% lower than in 2010 when 1.2 million deaths were recorded. However, the report called for "greater urgency" in the global AIDS response.
According to the report, an estimated 37.9 million people worldwide now live with HIV, but a record number — 23.3 million of them — have access to antiretroviral therapy (ART), which can control the infection.
Despite this progress, the UN warns that efforts to eradicate the disease are stalling due to lower investment and marginalized communities that lack vital health services.
Although eastern and southern Africa still have the world's highest number of cases, deaths related to HIV and AIDS in Africa have dropped significantly over the past decade.
But eastern Europe has seen deaths rise by 5%, and the Middle East and North Africa have seen a 9% rise. The report also pointed to "worrying increases" in new infections in eastern Europe and Central Asia, where HIV cases rose by 29%.
More political will
UNAIDS executive director, Gunilla Carlsson, said that more political leadership was urgently needed to eradicate the disease, adding that political will is necessary to help people and locations being left behind.
"This starts with investing adequately and smartly and by looking at what’s making some countries so successful. Ending AIDS is possible if we focus on people, not diseases, create road maps for the people and locations being left behind, and take a human rights-based approach to reach people most affected by HIV," said Carlsson in a press release.
Last year, €17 billion ($19 billion) was made available for AIDS response, which is $7 billion short of the estimated $26.2 billion needed by 2020. The gap was due to reduced international donations and sluggish domestic investment.
At-risk groups
The report said that more than half of new HIV cases in 2018 were among at-risk groups who do not have access to AIDS prevention services.
This group includes sex workers, drug users, men who have sex with men, transgender people, prisoners and the sexual partners of these groups
Despite decades of research and advancements in treatment, a cure for HIV or AIDS has yet to be developed. HIV and AIDS have infected almost 80 million people and killed more than 35 million since the early 1980s.
Many different approaches to tackling HIV/AIDS in Africa
Because knowledge is power, this year’s theme for World Aids Day on December 1st is "Know your status." Awareness makes the fight against AIDS more effective. But not every African president has led by example.
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Deadly denialism
Former South African president Thabo Mbeki (1999 - 2008) went down in history as the foremost African denier of AIDS. Against all scientific evidence he maintained that HIV did not cause AIDS. He instructed his health officials to combat the disease with herbal remedies. Experts believe his denialism cost up to 300,000 lives. Some have called for Mbeki to be tried for crimes against humanity.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/G. Khan
A president as traditional healer
In 2007 former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh (1996 - 2017) forced AIDS patients to undergo a cure that he had personally developed. It turned out to be a concoction based on herbs; an unknown number of people died. Jammeh, who claimed that he had mystic powers, is the first African head of state to be tried for violating the rights of HIV-positive people.
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'Take a shower'
Another former South African head of state to make headlines for an unconventional take on AIDS was Jacob Zuma (2009 - 2018). After being charged with raping an HIV-positive woman in 2006, Zuma said he was not at risk of infection, despite not using a condom, because he had "taken a shower afterwards." In 2010 he disclosed the negative results of his AIDS test, to fight the stigma, he said.
Image: Reuters/N. Bothma
No condoms?
Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni took his time before joining the fight against the epidemic. As late as 2004, during an international AIDS conference in Thailand, he downplayed the effectiveness of condoms, alleging, among other things, that they ran counter to some African sexual practices. "We don’t think we can become universally condomised," he said. His remarks were met with laughter.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/I. Langsdon
A tax to fund treatment
Some action taken by African heads of state to fight the scourge did not go down well at home. A tax introduced in 1999 by Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe (1987-2017) to help orphans and sufferers met with resistance. It is still in place today. In 2004 Mugabe admitted that his own family had been affected by AIDS. He said the disease was "one of the greatest challenges facing our nation."
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/T. Mukwazhi
A shining example
Fear of economic repercussions affecting, for example, tourism, is one reason why African leaders have been reluctant to acknowledge the threat. But President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia (1964-1991) announced as early as 1987 that one of his sons had died of AIDS. In 2002 he was the first African leader to take an AIDS test. He still fights against AIDS today.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Mwape
Bid to make tests compulsory
The fight against AIDS by Kaunda’s successor Edgar Lungu met with some hitches when he tried to make AIDS-testing compulsory in Zambia. Lungu said in 2016 that the policy was non-negotiable. But a huge outcry in Zambia and abroad forced him to backpedal especially as the World Health Organization made clear that compulsion encourages the stigmatization of HIV-positive people.
Image: Imago/Xinhua
Championing an HIV-free Africa
After leaving office, Festus Mogae, former president of Botswana (1998-2008), launched Champions for an AIDS-Free Generation, which brings together a number of former African presidents and other influential personalities eager to help fight the scourge. They hope that their experience and influence will enable them to exert pressure on governments and partners to invest in AIDS prevention.
