Deaths from HIV/AIDS are still falling
Students hold red ribbons during an event to mark World AIDS Day. Image: REUTERS/Stringer
- Deaths from HIV/AIDS have fallen by 33% since 2010
- But progress has stalled in some countries and there's a funding gap to fight the disease
December 1 marks World AIDS Day, which aims to promote awareness of the disease and mourn those who have died from it. Earlier this year, UNAIDS reported that the number of deaths from the HIV/AIDS pandemic has fallen. In 2018, there were 770,000 AIDS-related deaths, a 33 percent decline in 2010. Though that may seem like good news, progress in reducing new infections, increasing access to treatment and ending deaths is actually slowing down. In some countries, considerable progress has been made and one notable example is South Africa where new infections and deaths have both been reduced by 40 percent since 2010.
Elsewhere, progress has stalled and there have been worrying setbacks in Eastern Europe and Asia where new infections have risen 29 percent. UNAIDS reported that the gap between resource needs and resource availability is widening and for the first time, the AIDS response has fallen by nearly $1 billion. Last year, $19 billion was available for the response, $7.2 billion short of the estimated $26.2 billion required by 2020. UNAIDS urged all partners to step up action and increase bilateral and domestic funding for fighting the disease.
Don't miss any update on this topic
Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.
License and Republishing
World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
Stay up to date:
South Africa
Related topics:
The Agenda Weekly
A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.
More on Global RisksSee all
Kate Whiting
October 21, 2024