The number of people infected with and dying from the deadly disease AIDS has decreased significantly worldwide. This information has been mentioned in a research article published in the world-renowned medical journal Lancet, based in the United Kingdom.
The article published in the Lancet says that since 2010, the rate of infection with this disease has decreased by one fifth and the death rate has decreased by about 40 percent worldwide. The article also says that the number of people who died from AIDS in a year before 2010 has decreased by about one million deaths in recent years.
The main ‘base’ or center of gravity of AIDS was the countries of the sub-Saharan region of Africa. The Lancet research article says that the infection and death rates have decreased dramatically in these countries in the last 15 years. However, during this period, an increase in the number of infections and deaths from this disease is being observed in the countries of Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
“One of the major reasons for the decline in the spread of AIDS is the increase in detection and treatment,” Hemway Qiu, the lead author of the study, told AFP. “There are currently 40 million people living with AIDS worldwide, and about a million people are newly infected with AIDS every year. About a third of these people are not receiving treatment. In the past, the rate of non-treatment was much higher.”
However, despite the decline in the incidence and mortality rates, the United Nations’ goal of eliminating this terrible disease from the world by 2030 is still far from being achieved, Hemway Qiu said.
Effective tool
A pill called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has become the most effective tool in controlling the spread of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. AIDS is mainly spread through unprotected sex, and taking this pill called PrEP makes intercourse about 99 percent safer.
Thanks to this pill, which can be taken daily, the rate of AIDS infections is decreasing in many countries around the world, including the sub-Saharan region. Discussions are underway at various levels of government to make PrEP more accessible in various countries, including France.
Sometimes, the virus is also spread to newborns through the breast milk of mothers infected with AIDS. To prevent such transmission, a type of treatment called antiretroviral therapy has been started in AIDS-affected countries. Although this therapy cannot completely eradicate AIDS, it is possible to greatly reduce the amount of HIV virus inside the bodies of both the mother and the child.
New drug raises hope
The drug being used in antiretroviral therapy is called linacapavir. Studies have shown that this drug is 100 percent effective in preventing HIV infection. It has to be taken only twice a year through injections.
The manufacturer of linacapavir is the US pharmaceutical and vaccine company Gilead. It has already started being used in the United States in the medical field, but it is a very expensive drug. The patient has to spend about $40,000 for the two doses of this drug that have to be taken through two injections.
However, researchers have called on Gilead to reduce the price of the drug, saying that the technology and materials used to produce this drug cost only $40 or a little more to produce each dose.
Gilead, however, has not reduced the price of its own drug. However, responding to the researchers’ call, the company said last month that Gilead has decided to produce 6 generics (the same drug under different names) of linacapavir. Various outside companies will be licensed to produce these generics. Agreements have been signed with several companies in this regard, a Gilead official said.
How far is the vaccine?
For the past few decades, efforts have been underway to discover an AIDS vaccine. Those efforts have not yet been successful. Experts are currently considering linacapavir as the AIDS vaccine.
“We don’t know when an AIDS vaccine will be discovered. Until then, we have to rely on linacapavir. Because it is the most effective of the vaccines currently available on the market,” UK researcher Andrew Hill told AFP.
AIDS and HIV
AIDS is actually a disease and a set of symptoms at the same time. If the HIV virus enters the human body, it severely damages the human’s natural immune system and defenses. As a result, an AIDS patient can easily become infected with any infectious disease, which can ultimately lead to his death. The condition after HIV infection is called AIDS.
The first AIDS patient was identified in the United States in 1981 of the last century. That same year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) identified the virus responsible for the disease, HIV.
HIV enters the human body through unprotected sex and syringe needles. In addition, children are also infected with AIDS from their mothers. If a pregnant woman has the AIDS virus in her body, it can also infect her unborn child.
The prevalence of AIDS is highest in sub-Saharan Africa and the lower regions. Millions of people die of AIDS every year around the world. According to the World Health Organization, one million people died of AIDS in 2018.
