New HIV infections, deaths falling worldwide

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PARIS: In a major breakthrough in the fight against HIV, the number of new infections and deaths from the disease is declining worldwide.

However, health experts on Sunday warned that HIV is far from being eradicated and more needs to be done.

Uneven development

Fewer people died of HIV last year than at any time since the disease surged in the late 1980s, according to a UNAIDS report on Tuesday.

But the 1.3 million new HIV cases recorded in 2023 are still three times more than needed to reach the UN goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, the UN agency said.

About 630,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses last year, the lowest level since a peak of 2.1 million in 2004.

A separate study published Tuesday in The Lancet HIV journal found that the number of HIV infections worldwide fell by a fifth during the 2010s.

HIV-related deaths, which are usually caused by other diseases during the late stages of AIDS, fell by about 40 percent to less than a million annually, the study said.

The decline was mainly due to improved rates in sub-Saharan Africa, by far the most affected region in the global epidemic.

However, infections have not decreased everywhere. Other regions such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East saw an increase in HIV prevalence.

“The world has made remarkable global progress in significantly reducing the number of new HIV infections,” said lead study author Hmwe Kyu of the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

“More than a million people acquire a new HIV infection each year and of the 40 million people living with HIV, a quarter are not receiving treatment,” he said in a statement.

Effective tools for some

Prevention treatments called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) have proven to be a powerful tool in the fight against HIV.

These daily pills reduce the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99 percent, and have helped reduce HIV rates in many countries.

But UNAIDS said “only 15% of people who need PrEP were receiving it in 2023.”

For people who have been infected with HIV, antiretroviral therapy can reduce the amount of virus in their blood to undetectable levels.

But about 9.3 million people – about a quarter of people living with HIV worldwide – were not receiving treatment, UNAIDS warned.

New drug raises hopes.

These devices have worked well in rich countries but the high cost means that poor countries – such as those in Africa – are often left behind.

There are fears that history could repeat itself for a new drug that has been hailed as a potential game changer in the fight against HIV.

Early trials have shown that the antiretroviral treatment linacapavir is 100% effective in preventing HIV infection. And it requires injections only twice a year, making the drug much easier to administer than current regimens that require daily pills.

American pharmaceutical company Gilead is charging about $40,000 per person per year for the treatment in several countries.

But researchers estimate the drug could be made for as little as $40, prompting Gilead to allow cheaper access in hard-hit countries.

Last month, Gilead announced that it had signed licensing agreements with six generic drugmakers to manufacture and sell linacapavir in low-income countries.

While experts widely welcomed the move, some noted that millions of people living with HIV live in countries that are not part of the agreement.

The twice-yearly injection would also help address another problem for HIV drug administration — the stigma that comes with the disease.

How about a vaccine?

Despite decades of efforts, a vaccine for HIV is still missing.

But the linacapavir shot is “basically like getting a vaccine,” Andrew Hill, a researcher at the University of Liverpool in Britain, told AFP earlier this year.

A handful of patients have also been effectively cured of HIV.

But this treatment only happens after a patient endures a brutal stem cell transplant for their leukemia, so it’s not an option for almost all people living with HIV.