Nairobi, Dec 1 (EFE). - Some 40.8 million people live with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) worldwide, of which 21.1 million - more than half of the total - are in sub-Saharan Africa, the region most affected globally in a context marked by a financial crisis that has destabilized the response, especially in low-income countries. In 2024, 1.3 million people were infected with HIV worldwide and 630,000 died from AIDS-related diseases, according to UN data. Half of the new infections recorded - 550,000 cases - occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, where 260,000 people also died, confirming that the region bears the greatest burden of the epidemic. Africa, the epicenter of the epidemic In West and Central Africa, another 5.2 million people lived with the virus in 2024, with 430,000 new infections and 120,000 deaths. That year, women and girls accounted for 45% of all new infections worldwide, a proportion that rose to 63% in sub-Saharan Africa. Every week in 2024, 4,000 adolescent girls and young women aged 15 to 24 contracted HIV, of which 3,300 were in sub-Saharan Africa. Faced with these figures, which globally reflect a 40% decrease in infections and a 54% decrease in deaths compared to 2010, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) highlights that progress remains fragile. On the occasion of World AIDS Day, celebrated on December 1, the organization warns in a report of the "devastating impact" of cuts in international funding and lack of global solidarity, especially in the low- and middle-income countries most affected by the epidemic. US Cuts The abrupt reductions in international HIV assistance in 2025 have exacerbated existing funding deficits and jeopardized, according to the UN, two decades of progress. The cuts announced by Washington to foreign aid, and in particular to the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) - the world's largest global AIDS funding program - have paralyzed essential services, led to the closure of health centers, loss of staff, and disruption of virus prevention and early detection programs. Community organizations, a pillar of the HIV response, suffered widespread closures, with more than 60% of those led by women forced to suspend key programs. This crisis, warns UNAIDS, coincides with a global deterioration of human rights, an increase in laws that penalize sexual activity between people of the same sex, and growing restrictions on civil society, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, which worsens access to HIV services for the most marginalized populations. Despite this, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) expects external health aid to fall by 30% to 40% in 2025 compared to 2023, which will cause even more severe disruptions in the most affected countries. Advances in prevention On July 14, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the use of lenacapavir, a long-acting antiretroviral administered by a subcutaneous injection twice a year and acting on three phases of the virus's life cycle. WHO described the decision as "historic" because the drug, developed by the US pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, could redefine the global response to the epidemic by offering a more accessible alternative less dependent on daily adherence than conventional oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). In September, the US announced a partnership with Gilead Sciences and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to introduce lenacapavir in countries with a high HIV burden, and has already delivered the first doses in Eswatini and Zambia as part of PEPFAR. Gilead expects to complete lenacapavir's regulatory applications in 18 countries by the end of 2025, which, according to the pharmaceutical company, represent 70% of the global HIV burden, and the drug has already been approved in South Africa and Zambia, with pending decisions in Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The post "Over 21 million live with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa amid a funding crisis" was first published in La Verdad Panamá.
