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Emergency HIV/AIDS Treatment in Ukraine

HIV/AIDS Treatment in UkraineThe ongoing war in Ukraine has contributed greatly to poverty both inside and outside of the country. One contributor is the huge interruption the war enforced on HIV and AIDS diagnosis and treatment in the country. Due to the safety risk, 30 medical institutions that provided these services had to close their doors, putting the lives of patients at great risk by restricting their treatment. However, organizations like the Global Fund and the UNAIDS program have provided emergency HIV/AIDS treatment in Ukraine that has served to combat this, thus softening the effect of the war on those living with HIV/AIDS.

HIV/AIDS in Ukraine Before the War

The prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in Ukraine comes to 0.9%, higher than the world average of 0.7% and one of the highest infection rates in Europe. However, the country looked like it was turning a corner, as in the early 2010s, rates of infection started to decline. This was caused by higher investments in antiretroviral treatment and more support for opioid drug users, who were at higher risk of contracting the disease.

The Effect of the War

After the conflict began in 2014, according to the country director of the UNAIDS program Jacek Tymszko, “HIV totally disappeared from the agenda.” It made providing these vital services much more difficult. More than 30% of people living with HIV/AIDS have experienced an interruption in their treatment since the war began, according to UNAIDS. Equally, many faced displacement as a result of the war and therefore struggled to access these services simply because they no longer had a permanent home.

Emergency HIV/AIDS Treatment

However, due to the help of organizations and programs that focus on providing emergency HIV/AIDS treatment in Ukraine, many HIV/AIDS patients have been able to continue living as normal. In March 2022, the Global Fund provided over $15 million of emergency funding to Ukraine to maintain HIV and TB testing and treatment services and an additional $10.3 million donation in February. These provisions have contributed to retrofitting vans to deliver medicines to patients, community-led organizations that link patients to HIV and TB services and mental health services specifically for those with the disease.

The U.N. has also contributed to providing emergency HIV/AIDS treatment to Ukraine through the Joint United Nationals Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). It released an initial $200,000 in emergency funding in February 2023 to support the seven cities facing significant HIV epidemics. This provided first-aid training and kits to community-based organizations aiming to sustain HIV services, direct humanitarian assistance to those living with HIV with food certificates and STI testing kits and providing shelters for displaced people.

Results of Support

Due to the support of organizations such as the Global Fund and UNAIDS, there has been a reduction in the impact of the war on those living with HIV/AIDS. However, there are still those living with HIV/AIDS that are suffering as a result of the war, highlighting the need for more effort. Prior to the war, the Word Bank estimated that 260,000 people were living with HIV in Ukraine. Since then, around 15,000 of these people have lost treatment due to displacement. There is still room for more support to help affected people access life-saving services and prevent the disease from spreading.

– Erin Latham
Photo: Flickr

HIV/AIDS in Brazil: Progress, Initiatives, Results

HIV/AIDS in BrazilSince the 1980s, HIV/AIDS in Brazil has been a concern for some of the Latin American nation’s most vulnerable citizens. HIV/AIDS remains a significant global health challenge, with Brazil being one of the most affected countries. Considering this, Brazil continues to make significant progress in its fight against this ongoing health issue, and the nation has seen its rate of infection and death due to HIV/AIDS decline in recent years. With a population of over 200 million, Brazil’s response to HIV/AIDS is driven by a combination of comprehensive healthcare initiatives, social awareness campaigns and innovative strategies.

Prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Brazil

The Centers for Disease Control defines HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, as a virus that affects the body’s immune system for the duration of one’s life. Furthermore, improper treatment or management of HIV can lead to AIDS, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, which can be fatal. In other words, it is not possible to contract AIDS without having HIV first. According to UNAIDS, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Brazil has been steadily declining since 2010.

As of 2021, UNAIDS data shows that an estimated 960,000 children and adults in Brazil live with HIV, with a further 50,000 new diagnoses in children and adults in Brazil in 2018. Furthermore, an estimated 13,000 Brazilian children and adults died from HIV-related causes.

HIV/AIDS is more prevalent in specific populations, including LGBTQ people and sex workers. UNAIDS also provides data on prevalence rates in specific populations. According to the organization’s data, as of 2018, “Transgender people are estimated to have an HIV prevalence rate of 30%; 18.3% for gay men and other men who have sex with men; 5.9% for people who inject drugs; and 4.5% for prisoners.”

Access to Care and Treatment

Brazil has put multiple prevention and treatment programs into practice since its initial HIV/AIDS outbreak. Since 1996, the Brazilian Ministry of Health has provided free access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for any HIV patient living in Brazil. According to the National Institute of Health, since the 1980s, when Brazil’s HIV/AIDS outbreak emerged, there have been campaigns and initiatives surrounding HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. These include free, nationwide condom distribution, HIV testing, sexual education in schools and prevention campaigns targeted toward communities that are highly vulnerable to HIV, such as sex workers.

Results and Progress Made

While the country is still working to combat this ongoing health concern, Brazil’s comprehensive efforts and initiatives to reduce its HIV/AIDS prevalence rate have been successful. While infection rates are increasing, mortality rates are decreasing. According to UNAIDS data, the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in Brazil was at its highest in the 1990s and has steadily decreased since 2000.

The prevalence rate of AIDS has shown a significant decline over the years. In 2000, it was approximately 12%, whereas, in 2022, it dropped to approximately 5%. Moreover, mortality rates related to AIDS have also seen a decline. In 1996, the peak number of AIDS-related deaths reached around 26,000 patients, but by 2021, that number had decreased by 50%, with an estimated 13,000 patients succumbing to AIDS.

Looking Ahead

HIV/AIDS patients in Brazil have access to readily available assistance, relief and education. Successful initiatives by government officials and health professionals have played a crucial role in combating HIV/AIDS in the Latin American nation, leading to a decline in its prevalence. Although there is still work to be done, the efforts put forth have made a significant impact in addressing the issue.

– Nicholas DeLuca
Photo: Unsplash

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HIV/AIDS Treatment Improving Worldwide

Why HIV Treatment Is Becoming A Reality For People Everywhere
Just last year, it was announced that, for the first time in history, 50 percent of those infected with HIV/AIDS were receiving treatment. This landmark achievement is a massive process with different factors worldwide, but it’s all an interconnected humanitarian struggle against this life-threatening disease. As the year moves closer to 2019, it’s important to evaluate the measures being taken to keep the epidemic at bay and to take a closer look at the future of HIV/AIDS treatment worldwide.

A Survey of The World

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, known as UNAIDS, reported in 2017 that, of the 36.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS, 19.5 million are now receiving life-saving treatment in the form of anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs).

This trend has risen steadily since 2014 when UNAIDS announced that, if countries could meet the following goals for 2030, the global HIV/AIDS epidemic would be eliminated. Some of these goals are:

  • 90 percent of those with HIV are aware they carry the virus
  • 90 percent of the previous group begins using ARVs for treatment
  • 90 percent of those receiving treatment continue their treatment and reduce the levels of the virus in their system to levels below standard testing baselines.

These goals may seem as though it sets the bar high. However, after calculating the data from 168 countries in 2017, the world was already at 75-79-81. Several countries are doing exceedingly well: Iceland, Singapore, Sweden, Botswana, Cambodia, Denmark and the United Kingdom.

These nations have managed to keep the virus in 73 percent of the carrying population suppressed. This means that, after receiving HIV/AIDS treatment, 73 percent of individuals have such low levels of the virus in their blood that the disease is no longer transferable by them to another person.

An Uncertain Future

Though the world has made tremendous progress in recent years in controlling the number of HIV patients, much of this progress has to do with aid provided by the U.S. In 2018, the Trump Administration has been proposing cuts to the U.S. Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program. As one of America’s major global health initiatives, PEPFAR is responsible for HIV/AIDS treatment to millions of patients around the world.

President Trump’s budget proposal would strip PEPFAR’s funding from $6 billion to $5 billion. This is significant, as this program benefits those living along east and southern Africa. This area contains the highest concentration of those living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. The $1 billion cut would result in 1.8 million deaths over the next ten years in South Africa and The Ivory Coast alone. Those currently receiving ARV treatment will not lose their access to the life-saving medications they need because of the budget cuts.

Though the outcome for the future is uncertain, currently the world has been succeeding in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and HIV/AIDS treatment is becoming a reality worldwide. If countries worldwide can stay on track in meeting UNAIDS guidelines, then the global community may see this notorious virus eliminated by 2030.

– Jason Crosby
Photo: Flickr
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UNLV’s New Research on HIV

UNLV’s New Research on HIVResearchers from the University of Nevada Las Vegas have begun working on new research on HIV, human immunodeficiency virus, by finding ways to stop the virus from infecting human cells.

UNLV has already earned several financial grants for the research, including one from the National Institutes of Health.

The researchers are looking at genetic codes called minimotifs that direct cellular function. Their goal is to understand how the codes can help cells fight off HIV by blocking the virus from interacting with the cells.

“We chose HIV as our model system because we know viruses depend solely on cells to live,” said Kiran Mathew, a researcher at UNLV, in an interview with the Las Vegas Review Journal. “It’s a great model system we can use to test out the effects of (the codes) in the cell.”

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1.2 million Americans were infected with HIV as of 2012, with roughly 50,000 new cases each year.

By the end of 2014, close to 37 million people were living with HIV/AIDS worldwide and about 15 million people living with HIV were receiving antiretroviral therapy. The World Health Organization cites sub-Saharan Africa as the most affected region by HIV/AIDS globally with 26 million people infected in 2014. The region also accounts for almost 70 percent of the global total of new HIV infections.

There is currently no cure for HIV. The Food and Drug Administration has approved more than 25 antiretroviral drugs to help fight infections and improve quality of life for patients. With successful treatment, HIV infection can become a chronic, manageable disease. But therapy must be life long and there are limitations to diagnosis, treatment and care in geographical areas that are most heavily affected.

The promising new research coming out of UNLV might help develop new HIV drugs, code for other diseases and make personalized drugs specific for a patient’s genetic makeup. But first the findings must be published and patented before pharmaceutical companies could begin the process of bringing it to market where patients can benefit.

– Megan Ivy

Sources: Review Journal, CDC, WHO
Photo: Flickr

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Is AIDS on the Rise Again?

The Threat of a Major AIDS Resurgence
Is AIDS on the rise despite the increase in HIV treatment availability throughout the world? A recent report by the Joint U.N. Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and The Lancet, a medical journal, have called attention to the emerging risk of a major AIDS resurgence in already affected regions.

According to the study, high rates of population growth in heavily affected areas and staggering infection rates, which continue to only fall slowly, will increase the number of people who need access to life saving treatment.

Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and lead author of the report, Professor Peter Piot, stated, “We must face hard truths — if the current rate of new HIV infections continues, merely sustaining the major efforts we already have in place will not be enough to stop deaths from AIDS increasing within five years in many countries.”

Among the most vulnerable populations, women and girls have not reaped the same benefit from slowly falling infection rates in comparison to their male counterparts. According to UN News Centre, AIDS-related illnesses are the leading cause of death for Sub-Saharan woman and girls of reproductive age.

The population of HIV-positive adolescent girls reaches sevenfold that of males. Additionally, many adolescent girls become infected with HIV 5 to 7 years before men.

In a commitment to prevent new HIV infections and increase treatment among women and girls, UNAIDS and the African Union have come together in a report called “Empower young women and adolescent girls: Fast-Track the end of the AIDS epidemic in Africa”.

“As we work with our communities, our networks, our health service providers and our governments, we must commit to demanding a comprehensive focus on young women in the AIDS response,” said Rosemary Museminali, UNAIDS Representative to the African Union.

In this response lies the answer to the threat of resurgence. As the study argues, efforts to combat AIDS must be enhanced to proportionally treat those infected, improve knowledge and prevention, and provide better access to medication.

More recently, the United Nations sponsored a successful deal with Roche Diagnostics in order to reduce the price of early infant diagnostic technology by 35 percent to US$9.40. Early diagnosis of HIV is essential to accessing treatment at a vital stage since many children who go undiagnosed only live up to 2 or 5 years.

“We have to act now,” Michel Sidibé, executive director of UNAIDS cautions, “The next five years provide a fragile window of opportunity to fast-track the response and end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. If we don’t, the human and financial consequences will be catastrophic.”

– Jaime Longoria

Sources: UNAIDS, UN News Centre 1, UN News Centre 2, UN News Centre 3

Photo: HealthNest

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Treatment to HIV/AIDS Patients Spreads Globally

Treatment-to-HIV:AIDS-Patients-Globally
After years of struggling to get proper treatment to HIV/AIDS patients in Africa, there finally seems to be some progress, and furthermore, some hope.

Different aid and relief groups have struggled with treating people in Africa that have contracted the HIV or AIDS illness because of uncooperative governments, and a lack of financial means. However, despite seemingly discouraging statistics and results in the past, the United Nations Aids agency has thus far made a significant impact on the small communities throughout impoverished Africa.

The overall goal was to treat about 15 million people by 2015—a goal that was set in 2010. Targeting people in wealthier and more developed countries has not been an issue when it comes to spreading the treatment for HIV patients. Unfortunately, it has been significantly more difficult to provide treatment to poorer regions of the world, such as in Africa where there is the highest concentration of cases of HIV in the world. The region of Sub-Saharan Africa alone accounts for 66 perecnt of the cases of HIV around the world.

Despite obvious obstacles, the United Nations has been able to successfully provide treatment to many impoverished people in Africa. The goal previously set by the UN to provide treatment to 15 million people has already been reached and is now being surpassed. Since 2000, when the number of people being treated for the illness was only 700,000, the number of new cases per year around the world has decreased from 2.6 million to 1.8 million a year, a drastic drop.

Because these goals were met so quickly and efficiently, the UN has now set even more optimistic goals. The UN AIDS agency now is working to create more sustainable and long term treatment for patients living with HIV especially in poor countries. Furthermore, the UN is aspiring to end the AIDS epidemic entirely by the year 2030.

– Alexandrea Jacinto

Sources: BBC, Avert
Photo: Direct Relief

Improving HIV/AIDS Care in Malawi

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Over the last decade, Malawi has reduced its rate of HIV/AIDS infections by 72 percent, more than any other African country. US agencies that combat the virus hope to build on these successes with a five-year effort to improve HIV/AIDS care in Malawi. The effort is coordinated with Malawi’s government and will target seven districts across the country.

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, an NGO that focuses its anti-HIV work on mothers and children, is spearheading the effort. Funding is provided by the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Centers for US Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

One of the biggest successes to date for HIV/AIDS care in Malawi has been the prevention of virus transmission to at least 7,000 babies. This has been accomplished through lifelong anti-retroviral treatment for all pregnant and breastfeeding women who are HIV-positive. The Foundation’s efforts continue to focus on pediatric preventive care. Its goal to achieve less than a five percent transmission rate from mother to child is well within reach.

Over the next five years, US organizations plan to provide other health care services in addition to HIV/AIDS care in Malawi. One million Malawians will receive counseling, 50,000 adult men and 400,000 pregnant women will receive HIV testing, and lifelong treatment will be provided to at least 25,000 women expected to test positive for the virus.

Despite gains over the last decade, AIDS remains the number one cause of death in Malawi, with about 100 deaths and 30 new infant infections each day. The Malawian minister of health, Catherine Hara, expressed hope that the seven targeted districts will serve as a model for widespread improvements in HIV/AIDS care in Malawi.

– Kat Henrichs

Source: Relief Web
Photo: News@Jama