Political decisions will decide if AIDS ends by 2030 - UN
The United Nations says decisions political leaders take this year will decide whether a target to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 can be reached.
Figures show that around R1.3 million new infections were recorded last year.
It's an increase of R100 000 compared to 2022 but a significant fall since a peak of R3.3 million in 1995.
The US-based Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric AIDS Foundation says 130 thousands of new infections in the last year affected children.
The foundation's Trish Karlin is attending the World AIDS Conference currently underway in Munich and spoke to our reporter, Leigh-Anne Jansen, who filed this report.
The 2024 UN AIDS global report has been released at the World AIDS Conference in Germany today; it shows that for the first time in the history of the Global HIV/AIDS epidemic, the greatest decrease in new HIV/AIDS infections is in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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Karlin says child mortality is still an issue, though.
"Seventy-six thousand children died from AIDS-related causes in 2023, and roughly 90% of that burden is within Sub-Saharan Africa."
South Africa also joins Zimbabwe and Nigeria as some of the countries with the highest unmet demand for antiretroviral treatment for children.
"Right now, only about half of the children that need access to antiretroviral treatment have access. We know that within that gap of children that are not being reached, 17% of them are from South Africa,” says Karlin.
Karlin believes better multi-lateral coordination is needed in order to meet the UN's target of ending AIDS by 2030.
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