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COVID-19 took toll on AIDS fight, UNAIDS chief says

COVID-19 took toll on AIDS fight, UNAIDS chief says

JULIE STEENHUYSEN NEW infections and deaths from HIV/AIDS may increase as the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted prevention measures, said UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima in an interview airing on Wednesday at the Reuters Next conference. Byanyima, who is also United Nations under-secretary-general, said that during the first pandemic phase in particular, fewer people opted to be tested and some dropped out of treatment because of long lines at clinics or other public safety measures that impeded access to prevention measures. "We do expect that in the coming years, we might see more deaths, we might see more new infections as…
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Here’s where efforts to end HIV in eastern and southern Africa must focus

Here’s where efforts to end HIV in eastern and southern Africa must focus

THE World AIDS Day commemoration of 2020 took place in the midst of a global pandemic. It served as another reminder that people are not only susceptible to pathogens, but to the political, social and economic inequities that determine vulnerability to infections. KAYMARLIN GOVENDER, Research Director at The Health Economics and HIV and AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal JANET SEELEY, Professor of Anthropology and Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine MITZY GAFOS, Associate Professor in the department of Global Health and Development , London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine ROSELYN KANYEMBA, Post-doctoral reseacher, University of…
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‘A shot can end the stigma’: African women pin hopes on anti-HIV jab

‘A shot can end the stigma’: African women pin hopes on anti-HIV jab

NITA BHALLA  KENYAN sex worker Silvia does not much like the large, oblong-shaped blue pill she takes with her porridge every morning. While the daily tablets of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drastically cut her risk of getting HIV, they bring with it stigma and even violence due to the common misconception that the drug is taken by people who already have the virus. "I was beaten up by a client who found the pills in my handbag. He thought I had AIDS and accused me of giving it to him and hit me on the head with bar stool. I ended…
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Battles won – and lost – against AIDS hold valuable lessons for managing COVID-19

Battles won – and lost – against AIDS hold valuable lessons for managing COVID-19

WORLD AIDS Day this year finds us still deep amid another pandemic – COVID-19. LINDA-GAIL BEKKER, Professor of medicine and deputy director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town The highly infectious novel coronavirus has swept across the world, devastating health systems and laying waste to economies as governments introduced drastic measures to contain the spread. Not since the HIV/AIDS pandemic of the 1990s have countries faced such a common health threat. This explains why UNAIDS has selected the theme “Global Solidarity, Shared Responsibility” for this year’s World…
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