Hanover (ots) – Every minute someone dies in connection with AIDS, every other minute a young woman is infected with HIV. “In sub-Saharan Africa, the risk of becoming infected with HIV is almost three times higher for girls and young women than for boys and men,” explains Jan Kreutzberg, Managing Director of the German Foundation for World Population (DSW) on the occasion of the World AIDS day on December 1st. The consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have stalled the fight against HIV and AIDS worldwide. Essential treatment and prevention services are suspended. In addition, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, the rates of teenage pregnancy and gender-based violence have increased significantly, putting women and girls at particularly high risk: they account for 63 percent of all new HIV infections there.
Progress has slowed significantly
At 3.6 percent, the United Nations recorded the smallest decline in new HIV infections since 2016. In the world’s most populous regions, Asia and the Pacific, the number of new infections is rising where it had previously been declining, in eastern and southern Africa progress has slowed significantly in recent years. The number of people receiving HIV treatment also grew more slowly in 2021 than it has in more than a decade: Although three quarters of all people infected with HIV have access to antiretroviral therapy, around 10 million people affected do not have it and only them Half of the 1.7 million children living with HIV can be treated with life-saving drugs.
Germany is responsible
At the same time, foreign development financing from bilateral donors other than the US has fallen by 57 percent over the past 10 years. The Federal Republic of Germany has also reduced the funds for UNAIDS by 1.25 million euros in its budget for the coming year and only pledged 3.75 million. “The federal government is sending a fatal signal here. For a government that has written a strengthening of the global health architecture in the coalition agreement, 25 million euros would be an appropriate contribution in relation to German economic power,” says Jan Kreutzberg, underlining the demand from civil society. “We must not let up in the fight against AIDS, in all areas: Medical research and care must be promoted just as much as education and training, especially for young girls. Germany has international responsibility.”
Further information
5 questions – 5 answers about HIV and AIDS
Graphic: People living with HIV (https://www.dsw.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/DSW_Graphic_Menschen-mit-HIV.jpg)
This press release as PDF (https://www.dsw.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/PM_Welt-Aids-Tag.pdf)
About the DSW
The German Foundation for World Population (DSW) is an international development organization. Its goal is to contribute to sustainable population development. Therefore, she supports young people in making self-determined decisions about their sexuality and contraception. At the same time, she is involved in political decision-making processes in the areas of health, family planning and gender equality at national and international level.
Press contact:
Nicole Langenbach Spokeswoman German Foundation World Population (DSW) Hindenburgstr. 25 | 30175 Hanover Telephone: 0511 94373-20 | Fax: 0511 94373-73 Email: [email protected] Internet: www.dsw.org
Original content from: German Foundation for World Population (DSW), transmitted by news aktuell
Press portal newsroom: news up-to-date GmbH