HIV/AIDS: A global vision of the current situation.

Hello you! Before reading this post, go get a shower, put your nicest clothes on and sit down in your favourite place because this is not just any post! The post you are about to read is the basic information every Manoa explorer should keep in mind! (dramatic music) Why? Because based on the following facts, you are about to have a better idea about the current situation about HIV and AIDS in 2021.(Yes we know we are in 2022!)

How many people were living with HIV in 2021? According to UNAIDS, about 38.4 million people were living with HIV in 2021. To put things differently, it is more than the city of Tokyo, the world’s most populated city on the planet. It is also the equivalent of the whole population of Poland. 36.7 million of them are adults and 1.7 million are children under 14 years old.

Just by reading these numbers, it is obvious that more work has to be done to help end HIV as a pandemic. And this is obviously not a fight that has to be led by people in key populations or people related to HIV. It is fight that has to be led, and won, by everyone! Keep in mind that 54% of people living with HIV in 2021 were women and girls! A surprising fact when you hear what HIV is often related too in the western world…

How has it changed? Is 38.4 million better or worst than previous years? Well… there is a bit of everything. In 2000, there were 26 million people living with HIV, which means that in 2022 there are 18.4 million more people living with HIV. However, let’s be careful with this data because it does not mean that it is an "end of the world” fact. Think about life expectancy and AIDS-related deaths. In 2000 there were 1.7 million AIDS-related deaths and in 2021 there were… drumroll… 650.000! It is still a bad number but come on, we are down more than a million deaths! This is the good news we have to hold on to focus on reaching 0 deaths and as soon as possible.

There has been an incredible effort in providing antiretroviral therapy (ART) to people infected by HIV. In 2000, only 560.000 people had access to it and in 2021 ART was saving the lives of 28.7 million people! It is incredible! According to UNAIDS, in 2010 already 7.8 million had access to antiretroviral therapy and by 2020 it reached 27.2 million people! This is obviously related to resources given to fight HIV/AIDS around the world. In 2000, when there were 1.7 million AIDS-related deaths and 2.9 million new infections, HIV resources reached 5.1 billion US dollars. In 2021 it reached 21.4 billion US dollars, allowing us to make a greater effort: 650.000 AIDS-related deaths (down 40.000 deaths compared to the previous year), 1.4 million new infections less compared to 2000, and 28.7 million people with access to ART.

So what should you remember of this first post with important data? In 2021 there were 38.4 million people living with HIV, the equivalent of the world’s biggest city. How many new infections? 1.5 million which is similar to the population of the city of Barcelona. AIDS-related deaths? Good news but still too high: 650.000. People having access to antiretroviral therapy in 2021? 75% of the global population infected by HIV. There is still a lot of work to be done to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, but hey, let’s work on it and make it a reality! Can we count on you?