In a report published this Wednesday, September 8, the Global Fund is concerned about the “catastrophic” consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on the screening and prevention of tuberculosis, HIV and malaria.
- Due to the global Covid-19 epidemic, the fight against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria has been greatly slowed down in 2020, warns the Global Fund.
- The number of people on treatment for drug-resistant TB fell by 19% and the number of people on treatment for extensively drug-resistant TB by 37%.
- Compared to 2019, HIV testing fell by 22%, HIV prevention programs and services reached 11% fewer people and 12% fewer young people.
Started in March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has a “devastating impact” in the fight against certain other epidemics, in particular those of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. This is the alarming observation made by the Global Fund to fight these diseases in a report published this Wednesday, September 8.
According to the NGO, created in 2002, the Covid-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented setback in terms of HIV testing and prevention activities with key and vulnerable populations. It also reports a sharp drop in the number of people tested and treated for TB, particularly in drug-resistant TB programmes. “The impact of Covid-19 has been devastating. For the first time in our history, our main indicators are down”worries Peter Sands, executive director of the International Fund.
Global fight against HIV severely slowed
The fight against HIV has been particularly hampered by Covid-19. The report of the International Fund thus mentions a decline “alarming” prevention and screening services for key and vulnerable people. However, it notes a 9% increase in 2020 in the number of HIV-positive people receiving antireroviral treatment.
The influence of AIDS prevention programs has also declined by 11% in 2020 and by 12% among young people. The number of treatments given to mothers to prevent their babies from contracting the virus is down 4.5%.
Overall, AIDS testing has dropped by 22%, delaying the start of treatment in most countries. In countries where the Global Fund invests, 21.9 million people were on antiretroviral therapy for HIV in 2020, an increase of 8.8% compared to 2019.
A decrease in the number of people treated for tuberculosis
The fight against tuberculosis has also been greatly slowed down. In 2020, the number of people treated for drug-resistant tuberculosis fell by 19%. In countries where the Global Fund invests, some 4.7 million people with the disease received treatment, about one million fewer than in 2019.
The International Fund report, however, notes that malaria control programs seem to have been less affected by Covid-19. Thus, the number of mosquito nets distributed increased by 17% in 2020 thanks to the mobilization of volunteers who favored door-to-door visits to compensate for the closure of major centers.
The number of people tested for suspected malaria, however, fell by 4.3%, while progress in containing the disease stagnated, finds the Fund, which underlines “the crucial importance” health systems around the world to fight these three diseases.
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