Lack of global awareness and discrimination hindering the fight against HIV/Aids

According to the latest statistics as recorded on the UNAIDS website, 37.9 million [32.7 million–44.0 million] people globally were living with HIV. 23.3 million [20.5 million–24.3 million] people were accessing anti-retroviral therapy. 1.7 million [1.4 million–2.3 million] people became newly infected with HIV. 770 000 [570 000–1.1 million] people died from AIDS-related illnesses. 74.9 million [58.3 million–98.1 million] people have become infected with HIV since the start of the epidemic. 32.0 million [23.6 million–43.8 million] people have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the start of the epidemic.

There is an urgent need to sustain and intensify efforts in the fight against infection, so that its levels can be kept at a minimum level, particularly amongst young people. Recent statistics have shown that over 60% of the new cases are isolated to young persons, showing the need for more education regarding the virus and its potential dangers amongst the young.

Despite public service messages, advertisements and seminars hosted to educate persons on the dangers attached to having unprotected sex, there is still a substantial number of persons dying every year from AIDS-related complications.

Education on prevention aside, more also needs to be done in helping to eliminate or diminish the amount of stigma and discriminative attitudes held towards those with the disease. Stigma around the world is often so strong that those who are infected or suspect that they are, are often hindered from seeking treatment or learning of their status and being educated on preventative measures.

This creates a barrier, which could potentially become life-threatening and significantly decrease the mental health of the person. While there has been some progress over the years with the monitoring and reduction of stigma within the workplace as guidelines have been put in place to help in that respect, the stigma within the wider society is still largely in place and for the most part will largely remain that way over the next few years.

It should be emphasized that such discrimination helps the virus spread, because those carrying it dare not let the society know about it. The discrimination discourages those with the virus to tell the truth, which increases the risk of them spreading it to others.

The spread of HIV is not something uncontrollable, but a key prerequisite for controlling it is ending the discrimination against those infected with the virus. That should be the common sense of the whole society and it will take the common efforts of all to discard discrimination and fight the disease together.

We have, right now, the best testing, treatment, and prevention strategies that we’ve ever had, and putting them together has the potential to get every person living with HIV treated and able to live a full and healthy live and to effectively eliminate the chances of new transmissions occurring.

I can see that organizations have changed their prevention work a lot, they are now openly discussing the questions that are important to gain an understanding of the spread of HIV, such as parallel sexual relationships. It is important that a change in attitude comes from deep within society.

Improving the capacity to drive prevention work in the local societies provides a long-term approach to the fight against HIV/AIDS. If the spread of the disease is to be slowed, local resources must also be utilized. To achieve greater consistency in this work, local competence must be strengthened on a broad scale. And this competence must remain in place regardless of reduced medical care budgets or international relief efforts.

Furthermore, only when those with the virus can live equally among others will they refrain from concealing their condition. Social organizations need to be able to hold activities on campus to create a friendly atmosphere toward those with HIV. Governments also have a role to play, too, by rendering efforts toward eliminating the barriers that prevent discrimination against those who have the virus.

While there is still more work to be done, more than half a trillion dollars spent on HIV/AIDS and major clinical advances have led to significant strides in reducing mortality and improving the quality of life among people living with the disease.

Looking ahead, we know what needs to be done. We need to invest in research and development; people need greater access to diagnostics, particularly for drug-resistance, and better treatments that are less toxic and more effective; and we need the international community to fund the fight against the disease fully. We also urgently need a civil society movement that will hold governments, agencies, the pharmaceutical industry and other organizations to account.