UN Report on HIV

According to a UN report released on July 23rd, nearly 40 million people were living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in 2023. Over 9 million of them weren't receiving any treatment, resulting in someone dying of AIDS-related causes every minute.

Key Points

According to report, the new infections are rising in three regions: the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America.
Gender inequality is exacerbating the risks for girls and women. There is the extraordinarily high incidence of HIV among adolescents and young women in parts of Africa.
The proportion of new infections globally among marginalized communities that face stigma and discrimination – sex workers, men who have sex with men, and people who inject drugs also increased to 55% in 2023 from 45% in 2010.
World leaders pledged to end the AIDS pandemic as a public health threat by 2030. As part of that pledge, leaders vowed to reduce annual new HIV infections to below 370,000 by 2025.
According to the report, in 2023 new infections were more than three times higher at 1.3 million.

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is an infection that attacks the body’s immune system, specifically the white blood cells called CD4 cells.
HIV destroys the CD4 cells, weakening a person’s immunity against opportunistic infections, such as tuberculosis and fungal infections, severe bacterial infections and some cancers.