Success Of 90-90-90 Aids Program Requires 20/20 Vision

The UN estimates that about 37 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS, 1.8 million of which are children. Its analysts peg the number of people that have been affected by HIV worldwide since the beginning of the endemia in June 1981 to 2015 at 69.5 – 87.6 million and put the number of people that have died from AIDS-related illnesses at 29.6- 40.8 million.

In 2015, there were around 2 million people living with HIV in Latin America, according to the UN. An estimated 100,000 new infections occurred during the year in the region, a number that has not varied between 2010 and 2015. It is probable that 2,100 of these newly infected are children under the age of 14. Just over half are thought to be receiving treatment, as 1.1 million of these are accessing antiretroviral therapy (ART). ART is not a cure but it can help manage the condition as it controls viral replication within a person’s body, allowing a person’s immune system to strengthen itself and fight off any infections that could otherwise be deadly.

HIV was responsible for 4,811 deaths in 2014 in Mexico, making it the 16th prevailing cause of death, according to INEGI. It was the 14th cause of death in men, responsible for 3,893 deaths, and 17th in women, linked to 918 deaths. UNAIDS estimates 4,000 deaths in Mexico related to AIDS for 2015. Worldwide, the main cause of death for people living with HIV is tuberculosis, which is also responsible for one in three deaths of AIDS sufferers in 2015, according to the UN.

On World AIDS Day 2014, 20 years after the original Paris Declaration in 1994, UNAIDS brought together city mayors from around the world to sign the 2014 Paris Declaration. The signature of this declaration was a commitment to putting their cities on a fast-track and achieving 90-90-90 by 2020, meaning 90 percent of people living with HIV will know they have the virus, 90 percent of whom will be on ART and 90 percent of those will achieve viral suppression, which will reduce the risk of transmission. Reaching this target is estimated to prevent almost 28 million new HIV infections and 21 million deaths by 2030.

Mexico City is among the cities that signed up the Fast-Track Cities initiative. In addition to the 90-90-90 objectives, the Fast-Track Cities commit to eliminating the AIDS threat in their cities by 2030, rapidly reducing the number of HIV/AIDS related deaths.

The WHO recommends six types of prevention. The first is the consistent use of condoms, which have an 85 percent or greater chance of preventing infection. It is also wise to test for HIV, STIs and TB, as it is the leading cause of death for HIV sufferers. In addition, medical male circumcision reduces the risk of heterosexually acquired HIV infection in men by 60 percent. The WHO also recommends ART in uninfected people with a HIV-infected partner to reduce transmission, within 72 hours of exposure to HIV and ART for pregnant women to reduce mother to child transmission (MTCT). MTCT occurs in 15-45 percent of untreated pregnant women. In the case of ART through infectious stages, MTCT is almost eliminated, according to the WHO. UNAIDS estimated that 77 percent of pregnant women living with HIV received ART in 2015.