In total, 1.5 million new cases of HIV were registered last year, which is over a million more than the global target that has been set to fight the virus.
The number of new HIV infections worldwide decreased by 3.6 percent between 2020 and 2021. This is the smallest annual decrease since 2016.
The reason, according to the report presented at the international AIDS conference in Canada, is reduced resources as a result of the corona pandemic and the economic crisis as a result of the war against Ukraine.
“Covid-19 and other crises have disrupted health care in large parts of the world and millions of students have been out of school, increasing their vulnerability to HIV,” the report says.
Young women are affected
Most new infections continue to affect residents of countries south of the Sahara in Africa, which accounted for 59 percent of cases in 2021. In line with the development of recent years, the number of newly infected people rose in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America.
In Asia and the Pacific, a smaller increase was seen, after the number of new cases had previously decreased. However, a slightly brighter development could be seen in West Africa, Central Africa and the Caribbean.
According to the report, the number of young women and teenage girls was disproportionately affected by HIV. A new infection occurred in this group on average every two minutes.
Reduced aid
In 2021, 38.4 million people worldwide were living with HIV and there were 650,000 reported deaths from AIDS-related illnesses.
In addition to the crises of recent years, high-income countries have cut aid to the fight against the disease. In 2021, international resources were six percent lower than in 2010, and US bilateral aid has declined by 57 percent over the past decade.
Although the number of new infections globally has declined since the peak in the mid-1990s, there is still a long way to go to reach the global goal of ending AIDS by 2030, according to the report.
– We can end AIDS by 2030, but the curve will not turn down by itself, says UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima, who calls on the world’s countries to act.