The number of AIDS deaths across the world in 2022 was estimated to be less than half (-52%) of those in 2010, falling from some 1.3 million 12 years ago to 630,000 last year, a new UN report shows.
The sharp decline is mainly due to the wider availability of HIV inhibitors, which about 71% of HIV patients are thought to take. Whilst these drugs cannot cure an infection, they do keep the number of HIV particles in the blood low and prevent symptoms. Between 1990 and 2022, inhibitors prevented almost 21 million AIDS deaths.
Prevention plays a key role in the declining figures: in 2010, nearly 1.8 million new HIV infections were still recorded worldwide. By 2022, UNAids counted 1.3 million – a 38% decrease and the lowest number since the 1980s. While this large drop is largely due to the lower number of infections in sub-Saharan Africa, the region remains by far the one with the most HIV cases.
Sex workers and LGBTQ people
The report sees the treatment of pregnant HIV patients as a major factor in bringing down deaths, as HIV-positive mothers often pass the virus on to their unborn babies. UNAids estimates that it could already avoid 3.4 million infections in young children.
Prevention among adults is also on the rise: in 2019, only 233,000 people were using PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), a preventive pill for people who have sexual contact with someone who may be HIV-positive. Three years later, the drug already had 2.5 million users.
Still, it is not only medical developments that contribute to the falling figures. The report explicitly praises countries fighting discrimination of vulnerable groups, specifically sex workers and people from the LGBTQ+ community. "If we fail to protect them from HIV, the pandemic will go on forever," warned UNAids.
This remains an issue, however, as regions where these groups are marginalised and discriminated against – such as Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa – show an increase in HIV infections. Sex workers and LGBTQ+ people in these areas are less likely to get access to the necessary medical help and so go without diagnosis or treatment for longer.
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By 2025, UNAids aims to record fewer than 370,000 new HIV infections but estimated that it would need more than $9 billion extra to reach that target.
"This report clearly shows that there is a path to the end of AIDS," UNAids director Winnie Byanyima said. "The greatest progress has been made in the regions where the most investment has been made."
