According to the report announced at the Fifth international conference on HIV, held in March 2016 in Moscow, the following ranking of 10 countries was compiled by the number of people infected with AIDS. The incidence of AIDS in these countries is so high that it has the status of an epidemic.
AIDS– acquired immune deficiency syndrome due to HIV infection. It is the last stage of the disease of an HIV-infected person, accompanied by the development of infection, tumor manifestations, general weakness and ultimately leads to death.
10th place. Zambia
1.2 million patients out of 14 million population. Therefore, it is not surprising that the average life expectancy there is 38 years.
9th place. Russia
In 2016, the number of people infected with AIDS in Russia exceeded 1 million, according to Russian healthcare, 1.4 million according to the EECAAC-2016 report. Moreover, the number of infected people has been actively growing over the past few years. For example: every 50th resident of Yekaterinburg is HIV positive.
In Russia, more than half of the patients became infected through a needle when injecting a drug. This route of infection is not the main route of infection for any country in the world. Why are there such statistics in Russia? Many say this is due to the shift away from the use of oral methadone as an injectable drug replacement.
Many people mistakenly believe that the problem of infection of drug addicts is only their problem; it’s not so scary if the “scum of society” acquire diseases that lead to fatalities. A person who uses drugs is not a monster who can be easily identified in a crowd. He for a long time leads a completely normal life. Therefore, spouses and children of drug addicts are often infected. Cases cannot be excluded when infection occurs in clinics and beauty salons after poor disinfection of instruments.
Until society realizes real threat, until casual partners stop assessing the presence of STDs “by eye”, until the government changes its attitude towards drug addicts, we will rapidly rise in this ranking.
8th place. Kenya
6.7% of the population of this former English colony are HIV carriers, namely 1.4 million people. Moreover, the infection rate is higher among women, since the social level of the female population is low in Kenya. Perhaps the rather free morals of Kenyans also play a role - they approach sex easily.
7th place. Tanzania
Of the 49 million population of this African country, just over 5% (1.5 million) have AIDS. There are areas where the infection rate exceeds 10%: these are Njobe, far from tourist routes, and the capital of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam.
6th place. Uganda
The government of this country is making great efforts to combat the HIV problem. For example, if in 2011 there were 28 thousand children born with HIV, then in 2015 – 3.4 thousand. The number of new infections in adults also decreased by 50%. The 24-year-old king of Toro (one of the regions of Uganda) took control of the epidemic into his own hands and promised to stop the epidemic by 2030. There are one and a half million cases in this country.
5th place. Mozambique
More than 10% of the population (1.5 million people) are infected with HIV, and the country does not have its own resources to fight the disease. About 0.6 million children in this country are orphans due to the death of their parents from AIDS.
4th place. Zimbabwe
1.6 million infected per 13 million inhabitants. Widespread prostitution, lack of basic knowledge about contraception and general poverty led to these figures.
3rd place. India
Official figures are about 2 million patients, unofficial figures are much higher. Traditional Indian society is quite closed; many people keep silent about health problems. There is practically no educational work with young people; talking about condoms in schools is unethical. Hence, there is almost complete illiteracy in matters of contraception, which distinguishes this country from African countries, where getting condoms is not a problem. According to surveys, 60% of Indian women have never heard of AIDS.
2nd place. Nigeria
3.4 million HIV patients out of 146 million population, less than 5% of the population. The number of infected women is higher than men. Since there is no free healthcare in the country, the worst situation is in the poor.
1 place. South Africa
Country with the highest incidence of AIDS. Approximately 15% of the population is infected with the virus (6.3 million). About a quarter of high school girls already have HIV. Life expectancy is 45 years. Imagine a country where few people have grandparents. Scary? Although South Africa is recognized as the most economically developed country in Africa, most of the population lives below the poverty line. The government is doing a lot of work to curb the spread of AIDS; free condoms and testing are provided. However, poor people are convinced that AIDS is a white invention, just like condoms, and therefore both should be avoided.
Bordering South Africa, Swaziland is a country with a population of 1.2 million people, half of whom are HIV-positive. The average Swazilander does not live to be 37 years old.
Key Facts
- HIV remains a major global public health problem, having killed more than 39 million people to date. human lives. In 2014, 1.2 million people worldwide died from HIV-related causes.
- At the end of 2014, there were approximately 36.9 million people living with HIV worldwide, and 2 million people worldwide became infected with HIV in 2014.
- Sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected region, with 25.8 million people living with HIV in 2014. The region also accounts for almost 70% of the global total of new HIV infections.
- HIV infection is often diagnosed using rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), which detect the presence or absence of HIV antibodies. In most cases, test results can be obtained the same day; this is important for same-day diagnosis and provision early treatment and care.
- There is no cure for HIV infection. However, thanks effective treatment With antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), the virus can be controlled and people with HIV can have healthy and productive lives.
- It is estimated that currently only 51% of people with HIV know their status. In 2014, approximately 150 million children and adults in 129 low- and middle-income countries received HIV testing services.
- Globally, 14.9 million people with HIV were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 2014, of whom 13.5 million lived in low- and middle-income countries. These 14.9 million people on ART represent 40% of the 36.9 million people living with HIV worldwide.
- Coverage of children is still insufficient. In 2014, 3 out of 10 children with HIV had access to ART, compared with one in four adults who had access to ART.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)) affects the immune system and weakens the systems that control and protect people from infections and some types of cancer. The virus destroys and weakens the function immune cells, so infected people gradually develop immunodeficiency. Immune function is usually measured by CD4 cell count. Immunodeficiency leads to hypersensitivity to a wide range of infections and diseases that people with healthy immune systems can resist. The most advanced stage of HIV infection is Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), which different people may develop in 2-15 years. AIDS is characterized by the development of certain types of cancer, infections, or other severe clinical manifestations.
Signs and symptoms
HIV symptoms vary depending on the stage of infection. During the first few months, people with HIV are usually most contagious, but many do not discover their status until later in life. During the first few weeks after infection, people may have no symptoms or develop a flu-like illness, including fever, headache, rash or sore throat.
As the infection gradually weakens the immune system, people may develop other signs and symptoms, such as swollen lymph nodes, weight loss, fever, diarrhea and cough. If left untreated, they may develop serious diseases such as tuberculosis, cryptococcal meningitis, such oncological diseases, like lymphomas and Kaposi's sarcoma, and others.
Transmission of infection
HIV can be transmitted through various body fluids of infected people, such as blood, breast milk, seminal fluid and vaginal discharge. People cannot become infected through normal everyday contact such as kissing, hugging and shaking hands, or through sharing personal items and drinking food or water.
Risk factors
Behaviors and conditions that increase people's risk of contracting HIV include the following:
- unprotected anal or vaginal sex;
- the presence of another sexually transmitted infection such as syphilis, herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea and bacterial vaginosis;
- sharing contaminated needles, syringes and other injection equipment and drug solutions when injecting drugs;
- unsafe injections, blood transfusions, medical procedures involving non-sterile incisions or punctures;
- accidental needlestick injuries, including among healthcare workers.
Diagnosis
Serological tests such as RDT or linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) detect the presence or absence of antibodies to HIV-1/2 and/or HIV-p24 antigens. Conducting such tests as part of a testing strategy in accordance with an approved testing algorithm makes it possible to detect HIV infection with a high degree of accuracy. It is important to note that serological tests do not directly detect HIV itself, but rather detect antibodies produced by the human body in the process of fighting it. immune system with foreign pathogens.
Most people develop antibodies to HIV-1/2 within 28 days, and therefore early stage infection, during the so-called seronegative window period, antibodies are not detected. This early period infection is the period of greatest infectivity, but HIV transmission can occur at all stages of infection.
It is good practice to retest all people initially diagnosed as HIV-positive before they enter care and/or treatment programs to eliminate any potential errors in testing or reporting.
Testing and Consulting
HIV testing should be voluntary and the right to refuse testing should be recognized. Mandatory or forced testing by initiative medical workers, health authority, partner or family member will not be tolerated as it undermines good public health practice and violates human rights.
Some countries have introduced self-testing or are considering introducing it as an additional option. HIV self-testing is a process in which a person who wants to know their HIV status collects sperm, administers the test, and confidentially interprets the results. HIV self-testing does not provide a definitive diagnosis; This is an initial test and requires further testing by a healthcare professional using a nationally validated testing algorithm.
All testing and counseling services must consider the five components recommended by WHO: informed consent, confidentiality, counseling, correct results testing and linkage to care, treatment and other services.
Prevention
The risk of HIV infection can be reduced by limiting exposure to risk factors. Basic approaches to HIV prevention, often used in combination, include the following:
1. Using male and female condoms
Correct and consistent use of male and female condoms during vaginal or anal sex can protect against the spread of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Evidence suggests that male latex condoms provide 85% or more protection against HIV transmission and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
2. HIV and STI testing services
Testing for HIV and other STIs is strongly recommended for all people exposed to any risk factors so that they can know their infection status and have prompt access to needed prevention and treatment services. WHO also recommends offering testing to partners or couples.
Tuberculosis is the most common disease among people with HIV. Without detection and treatment, it leads to fatal outcome and is the leading cause of death among people with HIV—about one in four HIV-related deaths is due to tuberculosis. Early detection of this infection and prompt provision of anti-TB drugs and ART can prevent these deaths. It is strongly recommended that TB screening be included in HIV testing services and that ART be immediately provided to all people diagnosed with HIV and active TB.
3. Voluntary medical male circumcision
Medical male circumcision (cutting the foreskin), when performed safely by properly trained health professionals, reduces the risk of men acquiring HIV infection through heterosexual contact by approximately 60%. It is a key intervention in epidemic settings with high levels of HIV prevalence and low rates of male circumcision.
4. Use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for prevention
4.1. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) as prevention
A 2011 trial found that if an HIV-positive person follows an effective ART regimen, the risk of transmitting the virus to their uninfected sexual partner can be reduced by 96%. For couples where one partner is HIV-positive and the other is HIV-negative, WHO recommends that the HIV-positive partner be offered ART regardless of his/her CD4 count.
4.2 Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for the HIV-negative partner
Oral HIV PrEP is ARV taken daily by people uninfected with HIV to prevent HIV infection. There have been more than 10 randomized controlled trials demonstrating the effectiveness of PrEP in reducing HIV transmission rates among a range of populations, including serodiscordant heterosexual couples (couples in which one partner is infected and the other is not), men who have sex with men, women, changed gender, heterosexual couples high risk and injection drug users. WHO recommends that countries conduct projects to gain experience in using PrEP safely and effectively.
In July 2014, WHO released Consolidated guidelines for HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for key populations, which recommend PrEP as an additional HIV prevention option as part of a comprehensive HIV prevention package for men with HIV sex with men.
4.3 HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP)
Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is the use of ARVs within 72 hours of exposure to HIV to prevent infection. PEP includes counselling, first aid, HIV testing and a 28-day course of ARV treatment followed by medical care. In a new supplement released in December 2014, WHO recommends PEP for both occupational and non-occupational exposures, and for adults and children. The new recommendations contain simplified regimens for ARVs already used for treatment. Implementation of the new guidelines will make it easier to prescribe medications, improve adherence to medical prescriptions, and increase completion rates of HIV prevention AEDs for people accidentally exposed to HIV, such as health care workers, or for people exposed to HIV through unprotected sex or sexual aggression .
5. Reducing harm for people who inject drugs
People who inject drugs can take precautions to prevent HIV infection by using sterile injecting equipment, including needles and syringes, with every injection. The complete package of HIV prevention and treatment includes:
- needle and syringe distribution programs,
- opioid replacement therapy for drug users and evidence-based treatment for dependence on other psychoactive drugs,
- HIV testing and counseling,
- HIV treatment and care,
- ensuring access to condoms, and
- management of STIs, tuberculosis and viral hepatitis.
6. Eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV
Transmission of HIV from an HIV-positive mother to her child during pregnancy, labor, childbirth, or breastfeeding called vertical transmission or mother-to-child transmission (MTCT). In the absence of any intervention, rates of HIV transmission from child to child range from 15-45%. Such transmission can be almost completely prevented if both mother and child receive ARVs at stages when infection may occur.
WHO recommends a range of options for preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV, which include providing ARVs to mothers and children during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum period or offering lifelong treatment to HIV-positive pregnant women regardless of their CD4 count.
In 2014, 73% of the estimated 1.5 million pregnant women with HIV in low- and middle-income countries were receiving effective antiretroviral drugs to prevent transmission to their children.
Treatment
HIV can be weakened by combination antiretroviral therapy (ART), consisting of three or more antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). ART does not cure HIV infection, but it controls the replication of the virus in the human body and helps strengthen the immune system and restore its ability to fight infections. Thanks to ART, people with HIV can have healthy and productive lives.
At the end of 2014, approximately 14.9 million people living with HIV were receiving ART in low- and middle-income countries. About 823,000 of them are children. In 2014, the number of people receiving ART increased significantly—by 1.9 million in one year.
Coverage among children is still insufficient—30% of children receive ART compared to 40% of HIV-infected adults.
WHO recommends starting ART when the CD4 cell count decreases to 500 cells/mm³ or below. ART, regardless of CD4 count, is recommended for all people with HIV in serodiscordant couples, pregnant and breastfeeding women with HIV, people with tuberculosis and HIV, and people coinfected with HIV and hepatitis B with severe chronic disease liver. Similarly, ART is recommended for all children with HIV under five years of age.
WHO activities
As humanity moves closer to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, WHO is working with countries to implement the Global Health Sector Strategy on HIV/AIDS 2014–2015. WHO has identified 6 operational goals for 2014-2015 for the most effective support countries as they move towards global HIV targets. They are aimed at supporting the following areas:
- strategic use of ARVs for HIV treatment and prevention;
- eliminating HIV among children and expanding access to treatment for children;
- improved health sector response to HIV among key risk groups;
- further innovations in HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care;
- strategic information for effective scaling;
- strengthening the links between HIV and related health outcomes.
WHO is one of the sponsors of the Joint United Nations Program on AIDS (UNAIDS). Within UNAIDS, WHO leads work on HIV treatment and care and co-infection with HIV and tuberculosis, and coordinates with UNICEF efforts to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV. WHO is currently developing a new strategy for the global health sector response to HIV for 2016–2021.
Of all the countries in the world, the highest growth rate in the number of new cases of HIV infection (human immunodeficiency virus) was recorded in Russia. She stated this while speaking at the US State Department on the occasion of the annual celebration of December 1 world day fight against AIDS, coordinator of global AIDS programs Deborah Birks. She stated that “the largest increase in the number of new HIV infections worldwide is observed in Russia due to an insufficient response in the fight against the breadth and depth of the epidemic in the country.”
She did not provide any numbers or data to support her words. However official statistics confirms these words of a representative of the US State Department. At the beginning of 2017, there were about 36.7 million people living with HIV worldwide, mostly in developing countries, including African countries. Of these, Russia accounts for about 900 thousand infected, according to official statistics. The real figures in the Russian Federation, according to domestic experts, are .
In 2016, 1.8 million new infections were recorded worldwide, in other words, about five thousand people become infected with HIV every day on the planet - one every 17 seconds. In Russia, the annual increase in the number of new cases of virus infection is on average 10%: in 2014 - 89,808 cases of new infections, in 2015 - 98,232 new infections, in 2016 - 103,438 cases. And this year will be no exception. Mortality from HIV infection, according to Rosstat, in Russia is also increasing annually: in 2014 - 12,540 deaths, in 2015 - 15,520, in 2016 - 18,575 deaths.
The World Health Organization (WHO), which has been keeping HIV statistics by region since data collection and analysis began in the 1980s, reports that the total number of people infected in the European Region has reached 2,167,684, including 1,114,815 cases reported in Russia.
Over the past year, according to WHO, in the European region it was recorded 160 thousand new cases- this is the maximum in the entire history of observations. The European region is the only one where the number of new infections is rising. But this does not mean that these ominous data apply to Europe. WHO statistics “for the European Region” unite 53 countries with a population of almost 900 million people - in addition to the countries of the European Economic Area (EU/EEA), it also includes Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Russia.
In the EU countries themselves, only 29 thousand new HIV infections were recorded last year. Russia spoils the “European statistics”, since out of the total regional figure of 160 thousand, more than 103 thousand cases are in our country.
In a joint report by WHO and European Center Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) says this is the highest number of cases reported in a single year. “If the trend continues, we will not be able to meet the target of stopping the spread of the HIV epidemic by 2030,” says Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe.
Russia also recorded the highest incidence rates in 2016 - 70.6 cases per 100,000 population, in Ukraine this figure was 33.7 per 100 thousand, in Belarus - 25.2, in Moldova - 20.5. The number of new HIV infections diagnosed in Russia and Ukraine accounts for 73% of the number of infections in the European Region and 92% of the total in the eastern part of the European Region.
In 2014, more than 142,000 new cases of HIV infection were recorded in the European region (of which 89,808 cases were in the Russian Federation), in 2015 - 153,407 (of which 98,232 were in the Russian Federation). By the end of 2017, there will also be at least 100 thousand new infections in Russia, says the head of the Federal Scientific and Methodological Center for the Prevention and Control of AIDS, Vadim Pokrovsky.
According to him, the number of deaths due to HIV-positive status is also growing. “Last year, 18.5 thousand people, according to Rosstat, died from AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). In fact, more than 30 thousand people with HIV died, but why the remaining 15 thousand died is a question that requires study,” - Pokrovsky said.
It cannot be said that the increase in morbidity in Russia is decreasing; we can only talk about a decrease in the increase in new cases. “Our growth is not decreasing, but as it was, remains the same, and increases,” says Vadim Pokrovsky, head of the scientific and methodological Center for the Prevention and Control of AIDS.
Since 2016, the Ministry of Health has only taken into account non-anonymous infected people - those who took tests in government medical institutions with a passport and insurance certificate in hand. There were 86,800 of these in 2016 compared to 100,000 in 2015. And taking into account anonymous tests, Rospotrebnadzor in 2016 counted 125,000 new cases of laboratory confirmation of HIV infection. Thus, the Ministry of Health turned a blind eye to at least 20% of those infected. And a considerable part of HIV-infected people do not yet know about their diagnosis, because hidden form can last 10-20 years.
At the same time, there is not enough money in the state budget for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. WHO recommends immunodeficiency virus-suppressing antiretroviral therapy (ARV) for everyone diagnosed with HIV, while in Russia the coverage of ARV therapy is 46% of the 650,000 people with HIV registered by the Ministry of Health, or 33% of the 900,000 living carriers of the virus registered Rospotrebnadzor as of the end of 2016.
State strategy of the Russian Federation to combat HIV: there is no prevention, they only identify those already infected
Let us recall that the state strategy to combat the spread of HIV, adopted by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, set the goal of increasing the coverage of antiretroviral therapy (ARV), which suppresses the immunodeficiency virus, to 90% of all infected people by 2020 - this would make it possible to stop the epidemic.
However, it is not easy for Russian citizens to receive such treatment, and in rural areas it is completely unrealistic; patients are given medications that are far from the most modern, with a large number of side effects and mainly generics - medicines that differ in composition from the original medicine and in quantity active substance, and in terms of its quality.
In February 2015, due to the unfavorable dynamics of the spread of HIV infection in the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Health developed a strategy to combat AIDS until 2020. Officials planned to reduce prices for life-saving drugs for infected people through import substitution and the creation of cheaper Russian analogues.
But Russian drug for the treatment of HIV will be registered in the best case only in 5-10 years, TASS reports. The development of the domestic gene therapy drug "Dinavir", which is being developed by a group of scientists from the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, is now only at the stage of preclinical trials.
Concerning existing drugs, then, according to the head of the scientific and methodological Center for the Prevention and Control of AIDS, Vadim Pokrovsky, only a quarter of the sick receive them.
Despite the fact that the Russian government announced in April an increase in spending on the fight against AIDS, only 60 thousand people will feel the positive effect - “a drop of water on a hot stone,” Pokrovsky believes.
In general, according to him, in Russia there are no pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) programs, when antiretroviral drugs are taken by people with a potentially high risk of contracting HIV. There is no money for this, because there is not enough medicine even for already infected citizens. Against this background, the only working and officially approved concept in Russia is the “test and treat” strategy, recalls Medvestnik. “Prevention should prevent infections, but we identify those already infected, and more and more every year. At the same time, next year the State Duma is going to reduce the budget for the treatment of HIV infection from 17.5 to 16.5 billion rubles. Therefore, one should not be surprised that our epidemic is on the rise,” Pokrovsky believes.
“The Russian state does not stand on ceremony with those who criticize it. As soon as Pokrovsky complained about the insufficiently active fight against the epidemic, the Ministry of Health deprived the Federal AIDS Center in June of this year public funds under a false pretext. Non-governmental organizations also face an increased number of obstacles. Many of them are forced to curtail their work because, according to a law passed in 2012, they are required to register as “foreign agents,” recalls the Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung. By the way, in Switzerland the situation is almost stable - in 2016, the virus was detected in 539 people, in 2015 - in 537.
Sex between men remains one of the main routes of HIV transmission
Despite the presence of specialized prevention programs in many European countries, sex between men continues to be the predominant route of HIV transmission in European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries.
In all previous years, cases of HIV diagnosis among men who have sex with men grew at an alarming rate - from 30% in 2005 to 42% in 2014.
According to the acting Director of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) Andrea Ammon, to reduce these statistics, new strategies such as HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and access to medical care for EU citizens living in other countries.
In Russia, the official statistics are different: 40% of all HIV-infected people are people of traditional sexual orientation, from 55% to 60% of those infected were infected as a result of drug use, and only less than 2% were infected through homosexual contacts.
However, these figures are again far from reality due to the fact that in Russia, due to high level gays cannot even tell doctors that they have had same-sex contacts. "In AIDS centers there is a system of codes that assign different groups. For men who have sex with men, this is 103. But they are given other codes, for example 105 (persons with promiscuity). And thus gays add to the statistics of heterosexual transmission. But according to research public organizations“, in Russia, every sixth gay man is already infected,” Evgeny Pisemsky, head of the Oryol NGO “Phoenix PLUS”, told Radio Liberty.
“Specialists in AIDS centers are well aware of such underestimated statistics. But they are always under the sword of Damocles of the law on so-called propaganda among minors and interpret it in such a way that “just in case, we won’t even mention it, otherwise we will be accused of propaganda.” homosexuality." But only real numbers could convince society that the problem exists," says Pisemsky.
According to the Open Institute of Health Foundation, the results of a 2017 biobehavioral study show that the average HIV infection rate among gay men in Russia is 18% (in Moscow - 13%, in St. Petersburg - 24%, in Yekaterinburg - 16%).
According to Pisemsky, the state will not be able to fight HIV without recognizing that it is spreading very quickly in this particular risk group. This means that no prevention is carried out in this environment, and gays themselves receive the misleading confidence that the HIV problem does not concern them.
Every second HIV-infected person is diagnosed already late stage
Almost half of HIV infections across the European Region, which includes Russia, are diagnosed at a late stage: this increases the risks of poor health, death and HIV transmission.
The high number of AIDS cases in Russia and other Eastern European countries confirms that late diagnosis, delayed initiation of antiretroviral therapy and low treatment coverage contribute to the development of morbidity, the World Health Organization notes.
HIV/AIDS surveillance data from 2016 suggest that the likelihood of late diagnosis increases with age. Thus, 65% (63% in EU/EEA countries) of people over 50 years of age in the European Region were diagnosed with HIV infection at an advanced stage.
Testing for HIV infection for certain diseases, such as other sexually transmitted infections, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis and some types of cancer.
According to Russian statistics, more than half (51%) of registered cases of HIV infection are diagnosed at a late stage of the disease.
HIV infection in the world is one of the most progressive sexually transmitted diseases. It is also worth noting that AIDS statistics in the world, as a rule, absolutely do not correspond to the true picture of the spread of the disease, since research methods are based only on patients who are served in medical institutions. At the same time, most carriers of the infection and patients do not even suspect they are infected due to reluctance or inability to see a doctor.
Another factor contributing to the concealment of truthful information about the spread of AIDS in the world is the fear of politicians and doctors being to blame for the inability to contain the avalanche of infection that is rapidly moving towards humanity.
State of the spread of HIV in the world
The number of HIV-infected people in the world is growing exponentially. First of all, this is due to the fact that the AIDS problem in the world does not lend itself to the basic rules of combating infectious diseases, which are based on the exclusion of one of the components of the epidemiological process:
- Source of the disease.
- Path of transmission.
- Receptive population.
In countries around the world, HIV has long become the number one problem. For every infection to spread, there needs to be a source, a transmission route that ensures the virus reaches a susceptible population. In the case of HIV, there is no way to act on any of the three components that contribute to the spread of the disease. A huge problem is that most people become infected from carriers of the virus who are in the so-called “serological window”, when a person is already infected, but tests are still negative. It has not been possible to exclude the latter factor for many decades, since the invention of a vaccine against immunodeficiency has been postponed indefinitely due to insufficient knowledge, research and technical capabilities.
Taking into account the above, HIV statistics in the world will worsen every year, since many people on the planet underestimate the danger of the immunodeficiency virus. The current HIV epidemic situation in the world can only be influenced by the awareness of the population and support for the fight against AIDS at the state level.
Prevalence of HIV infection (AIDS) in the world
Only by the end of the eighties, the statistics of HIV-infected people in the world reached levels that shocked the world community. In 142 countries, the World Health Organization has identified more than 120 thousand people with AIDS and more than 100 thousand infected with the retrovirus. The real prevalence of HIV in the world is much higher than these data, since there is always a percentage of the population that is not registered in medical institutions and therefore cannot be taken into account in statistical indicators. There are also carriers who are not even aware of their infection. The AIDS epidemic in the world mainly affects people of reproductive age. This leads to a significant loss of the working population, a decrease in the birth rate of healthy children and, accordingly, a decrease in the health indicators of all layers of humanity.
How many HIV-infected people are there in the world?
The question that interests many is how many people have AIDS in the world today? The first places in the world for HIV are occupied by the countries of southern Africa, India, Russia, the USA and Latin America. In these states, infected people make up approximately 15% of the total population. Every year the number of HIV-infected people in countries around the world increases by 5-10 million. Thus, at the beginning of the 21st century, the number of AIDS patients in the world amounted to more than 60 million. The countries of southern Africa occupy the first place in the world community in terms of AIDS. Due to the unstable economic situation, the possibility of treating and identifying HIV-infected people is very difficult. This leads to the rapid and rapid spread of immunodeficiency among people. The disease progresses very quickly to stage 4 - AIDS.
Epidemiological situation of HIV infection in the world
Countries in which the incidence of immunodeficiency is rapidly increasing:
- Brazil.
- countries of Central Africa.
- Haiti.
- Indonesia.
- Bangladesh.
- Pakistan.
- Mexico.
- Great Britain.
- Türkiye.
The ways in which AIDS spreads in countries around the world to some extent depend on the economic situation in the state and its policy towards HIV-infected people. There are such features:
- The countries of the European Union, the USA, Australia and New Zealand are characterized by high early detection of the disease among the population. This is due to compulsory health insurance and relatively frequent quality medical examinations. Based on the results of the study, we can conclude that 80% of those infected were identified among homosexual men and drug addicts who use intravenous drugs. IN childhood morbidity is practically not recorded. This is due to timely and high-quality treatment of infected pregnant women, which prevents the vertical transmission of immunodeficiency (from a sick mother to a healthy fetus through the placenta, blood, breast milk). Cases of non-sexual transmission are practically never recorded in these countries.
- For the countries of Africa and the adjacent warm islands, as well as the countries of the Caribbean, Indonesia, the rate of early detection of AIDS is very low. In these countries, the majority of patients are heterosexual. Their age is 18-38 years. Most of these people became infected through sexual contact with prostitutes. Studies show that more than 90% of them are infected with a retrovirus. In African countries, HIV transmission is often associated with sexual contact with an infected woman. More often, such intercourse additionally leads to diseases that are sexually transmitted. And genital ulcers that develop due to these pathologies lead to a higher likelihood of pathogen transmission. In such states, transfusion of blood and its products from an infected donor to a healthy recipient is not uncommon.
- Countries where HIV was introduced relatively recently. These include Asia and Eastern Europe. Retrovirus infection here occurs primarily through sexual contact. The highest risk of infection is among people who have many sexual partners and do not neglect unprotected relationships with prostitutes.
HIV in Russia
The first place in HIV in the Russian Federation is occupied by Ural Federal District. It has about 800 patients registered per 100 thousand population, which is a very high figure. Over the past 15 years in Russia, cases of detection of immunodeficiency in pregnant women have increased by 15%. At the same time, such women are registered at a later stage, which leads to intrauterine infection of the fetus due to the lack of necessary treatment in the early stages of embryo formation. Also, the Siberian Federal District claims first place in AIDS in Russia, where about 600 infected people per 100 thousand people are registered, most of them have the last stage of development of the disease, that is, AIDS.
Medical news in the world of HIV
Nowadays, the task of creating a vaccine against a retrovirus is in the first place for scientists. Currently underway great amount research work in the field of molecular microbiology, which undoubtedly brings humanity closer to the creation of a vaccine against AIDS. Despite this, there are a number of factors that prevent the possibility of obtaining such a drug:
- High ability of the virus to mutate.
- Variety of HIV strains (per this moment 2 types are known).
- The need to combat not only the retrovirus, but also infected cells of the body, as well as AIDS-associated infections.
Due to the fact that the spread of HIV in the world is growing every year, many patients simply do not have time to wait for a vaccine. Therefore, the main way to combat this disease should be aimed at preventive actions. All HIV-infected people in the world receive free treatment, which provides them with maximum comfortable life. With adequate and competent therapy, patients can live a full and long life. HIV treatment around the world is carried out in regional AIDS centers according to uniform standards and includes individual approach for any patient, selection of a regimen depending on the stage of pathology progression. The main principle of providing medical care is maximum confidentiality.
AIDS is constantly spreading among the world's population, but it is not yet possible to cure it completely. Therefore, it is worth directing maximum efforts to prevent such a dangerous pathology.
Ten regions of Russia are located in critical condition according to the level of HIV prevalence. This was stated by the Minister of Health of the Russian Federation Veronika Skvortsova. The sad list is headed by the Sverdlovsk and Kemerovo regions.
“HIV is spread very unevenly throughout the country,” noted the head of the Ministry of Health. “The prevalence is significantly higher, several times, in those regions through which drug trafficking routes pass. Therefore, there are 10 critical regions out of 85. In first place is the Sverdlovsk region, Yekaterinburg, which got into the press (in connection with this),” Skvortsova said.
According to the minister, “57% of all sources of HIV infection are through injection, usually from heroin addicts.” As for such a traditional risk group as homosexuals, this trend is less pronounced in Russia.
“40% of cases of sexually transmitted infections relate to heterosexual couples,” Skvortsova pointed out, emphasizing that the increase in the number of infected people is due to healthy women who picked up the virus from their own husband.
According to the Federal Center for the Prevention and Control of AIDS, at the end of last year the list of the most HIV-affected regions was as follows: Irkutsk region, Sverdlovsk, Kemerovo, Samara, Orenburg, Leningrad region, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk, Tyumen regions.
During the year, anonymous testing was carried out in problem regions, which was completed by 23.5 thousand young people under 30 years of age. Among them, 2.3% were identified as HIV-infected.
In early November, the Ministry of Health of Yekaterinburg announced that every 50th resident in the city has AIDS.
“We have an infection rate of 1,826 people per hundred thousand, this is 1.8% of the city’s population, 26,693 thousand infected,” said Tatyana Savinova, deputy head of the city health department of Yekaterinburg. “And these are just known cases, the real incidence is even higher,” she emphasized.
But this situation in Yekaterinburg has been developing for decades, so doctors do not make announcements about the beginning of the epidemic, the city health department emphasized.
According to the criteria of the WHO and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV, more than 1% of those infected means that the infection is firmly rooted in the population and its spread is practically independent of risk groups.
Meanwhile in Federal Center for the Prevention and Control of AIDS believe that Russia is today on the verge of transition to the third, last stage HIV epidemic.
“An epidemic is a relative concept. HIV has three stages. Initial - the first cases are imported from abroad. The second is concentrated, risk groups are affected. In our country, 10% of men who have sex with men and 20% of drug addicts are now infected. And when more than 1% of pregnant women are infected, then it is generalized. We are now at the stage of transition from the second to the third," the head of the center, Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Vadim Pokrovsky, told the L!fe portal.
