Access to antiretroviral (ART) treatments has allowed countless people with HIV/AIDS to have a different view of the disease. Low- and middle-income countries also had a drop in mortality due to the 1.6 million beneficiaries of treatment in 2013.
Amazing progress in Africa
Africa is one of the areas most affected by HIV infection, with numerous socioeconomic, cultural, epidemiological and health difficulties still encountered in the fight against AIDS. Despite the obstacles, Africa has seen a significant increase in the number of people with access to ART in 2013. According to a 2013 WHO report (source:http://www.who.int/hiv/data/ARTmap2013.png?ua=1) 7,540,000 people receive treatment on the African continent.
TAR accessible to 15 million patients in 2015
According to who, the goal is to allow 15 million people to benefit from ART in 2015. Despite the progress achieved today, there remains to be a greater balance between the distribution of the benefited population, which has fewer men, children, adolescents and people at risk for the benefit of women and pregnant women with HIV.
A notable fall in AIDS mortality
Greater access to ART has dramatically reduced the mortality rate from AIDS diseases. According to WHO estimates, more than 4.2 million deaths may have been prevented in 10 years in low- and middle-income countries. This improvement in life expectancy is also accompanied by a lower incidence of new infections and this is thanks to the effective prevention of ART, which is increasingly effective. According to data, more than 800,000 infections were prevented in children between 2005 and 2012.
Attention to the moment of the disease, a guarantee of efficacy
In addition to the efforts to implement the use of ART, screening actions are crucial to start treatment at the most favorable time. It is worth remembering that antiretroviral treatment should be put into practice during a certain stage of disease evolution. This means at the moment that the CD4 rate is not so low yet. Unfortunately, in most low-income and intermediate-income countries, more than 25% of the population carrying the virus starts TAR late.
Despite advances in screening and treatment, there are still many regions, especially in Africa, where the population does not have access to AIDS diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, there is still much to do and invest in relation to this disease.
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