{"id":50223,"date":"2025-02-06T19:04:34","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T19:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/?p=50223"},"modified":"2025-03-02T19:33:56","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T19:33:56","slug":"ias-public-letter-why-hiv-could-be-poised-for-a-monumental-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/50223","title":{"rendered":"IAS public letter: Why HIV could be poised for a monumental comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"

International AIDS Society (IAS)<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year the IAS annual letter was posted online just after the US threatened to jeopardise PEPFAR and USAID.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The good news first: HIV science has made remarkable progress. While we still lack a vaccine or cure, a single dose of\u00a0a new long-acting injectable drug can now offer protection against HIV for up to six months<\/a>. This breakthrough could revolutionize efforts to curb a pandemic that still claims a life every minute. However, the rise of populism and regressive governance threatens to unravel many hard-won gains in HIV and public health.<\/p>\n

The United States has <\/span>suspended funding to the President\u2019s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief<\/a> (PEPFAR), which has saved some 26 million lives over the past two decades. Even though a later <\/span>waiver for \u201clife-saving humanitarian assistance\u201d<\/a> applied to HIV testing and treatment and, narrowly, to HIV prevention for pregnant women, many PEPFAR-funded clinics had already closed, staff were sent home, and confusion remains. The future of PEPFAR is now uncertain, and more than 20 million people are in danger of losing access to life-saving medication.<\/span><\/p>\n

Human rights restrictions continue to challenge the HIV response in regions most affected by the pandemic. <\/span>In 2024, Uganda upheld one of the world\u2019s harshest anti-gay laws<\/a>. <\/span>At least half of the 67 countries that still criminalize same-sex relationships are in central, eastern, southern and western Africa<\/a>, where HIV burdens are highest. Anti-gay laws correlate with higher HIV rates globally. <\/span>In Russia<\/a>, punitive drug laws and restrictive LGBTQ+ policies continue to drive the world\u2019s fastest-growing HIV epidemic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Undermining science and human rights risks reversing progress and invites the next pandemics. The re-emergence of <\/span>mpox<\/a> and <\/span>H5N1 bird flu <\/a>are warning shots \u2013 HIV could be next. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0But there\u2019s a blueprint that can do the opposite and end the HIV pandemic for good:<\/span><\/p>\n

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