The United Nations on Monday warned there could be hundreds of thousands of AIDS-related deaths in sub-Saharan Africa if there is a disruption in treatment for HIV sufferers during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, reported News 24.
In a joint statement released on Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UNAIDS said a six-month disruption of antiretroviral therapy due to the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to more than 500,000 extra deaths in the region in 2020-21.
In 2018, the latest figures given, an estimated 470,000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2018, an estimated 25.7 million people were living with HIV in the region, of whom 16.4 million were taking antiretroviral therapy.
The two agencies warned that if HIV services are closed, supply chains interrupted, or healthcare services overwhelmed due to the Covid-19 pandemic could have an adverse impact.
Modelling conducted for the agencies said a six-month disruption in HIV healthcare services could result in 2008 like situation, when more than 950,000 AIDS-related deaths were recorded in the region.
“The terrible prospect of half a million more people in Africa dying of AIDS-related illnesses is like stepping back into history,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “We must read this as a wake-up call to countries to identify ways to sustain all vital health services.”
He said that some countries are already taking necessary steps to maintain health services, such as by allowing people to collect bulk packs of therapies, and other essential commodities, including self-testing kits.
Mr. Ghebreyesus added all the nations must ensure that global supplies of tests and treatments continue to flow to the countries that need them the most.
The agencies said disruption in the services could also reverse gains made in preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The number of HIV infections among children in sub-Saharan Africa dropped by around 43 percent from 250,000 in 2010 to 140,000 in 2018.
