The UNAIDS Global AIDS Update 2022 report, In Danger, reveals that during the last two years of COVID-19 and other global crises, progress against the HIV pandemic has faltered, resources have shrunk, and millions of lives are at risk as a result.
In advance of Red Run London 2022 on November 26, which is in support of World AIDS Day on 1 December, We have updated our World Aids Day content to reflect the data posted on the UNAIDS website. Until then, here is an introduction to the UNAIDS report:
Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa have all seen increases in annual HIV infections over several years. In Asia and the Pacific, UNAIDS data now show new HIV infections are rising where they had been falling. Action to tackle the inequalities driving AIDS is urgently required to prevent millions of new HIV infections this decade and to end the AIDS pandemic.
During the last two years of COVID-19 and other global crises, progress against the HIV pandemic has faltered, resources have shrunk, and millions of lives are at risk as a result. The new report, In Danger, was launched ahead of the International AIDS Conference in Montreal, Canada, in July.
The AIDS pandemic took a life every minute, on average, in 2021, with 650 000 AIDS deaths despite effective HIV treatment and tools to prevent, detect, and treat opportunistic infections.
Globally the number of new infections dropped only 3.6% between 2020 and 2021, the smallest annual decline in new HIV infections since 2016. Eastern Europe and central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, and Latin America have all seen increases in annual HIV infections over several years. In Asia and the Pacific – the world’s most populous region – UNAIDS data now shows new HIV infections are rising where they had been falling. Climbing infections in these regions are alarming. In eastern and southern Africa rapid progress from previous years significantly slowed in 2021. There is some positive news, with notable declines in new HIV infections in western and central Africa and in the Caribbean, but even in these regions, the HIV response is threatened by a tightening resource crunch.
New infections occurred disproportionately among young women and adolescent girls, with a new infection every two minutes in this population in 2021. The gendered HIV impact, particularly for young African women and girls, occurred amidst disruption of key HIV treatment and prevention services, millions of girls out of school due to pandemics, and spikes in teenage pregnancies and gender-based violence. In sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls and young women are three times as likely to acquire HIV as adolescent boys and young men.
During the disruptions of the last few years, key populations have been particularly affected in many communities – with rising prevalence in many locations. UNAIDS data have shown an increasing risk of new infections faced by gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) globally. As of 2021, UNAIDS key populations data show MSM have 28 times the risk of acquiring HIV compared to people of the same age and gender identity while people who inject drugs have 35 times the risk, sex workers 30 times the risk, and transgender women 14 times the risk.
Racial inequalities are also exacerbating HIV risks. In the United Kingdom and the United States of America, declines in new HIV diagnoses have been greater among white populations than among black people. In countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States, HIV acquisition rates are higher in indigenous communities than in non-indigenous communities.
