GENEVA / UNAIDS REPORT

AIDS-related deaths have nearly halved since 2005 and more than half of all those with HIV now have access to treatment, according to a new UN report launched today. UNTV CH

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:30
• Production Date: 20 July 2017
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: JOINT UNITED NATIONS PROGRAMME ON HIV-AIDS - UNAIDS
• Subject Topical: AIDS; HEALTH
• MAMS Id: 1935840
• Parent Id: 1935840
• Alternate Title: unifeed170720b

Description

STORY: GENEVA/ UNAIDS REPORT
TRT: 1:33
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 20 JULY 2017 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

Shotlist

1. Exterior, Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Peter Ghys, Director, Strategic information and Evaluation Department (UNAIDS):
“Today we are pleased to announce that a record 19.5 million people with HIV are accessing life-saving treatment and this up from just 7.7 million in 2010.”
4. Close up, hands journalist
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Peter Ghys, Director, Strategic information and Evaluation Department (UNAIDS):
“There were approximately 1.9 million deaths due to AIDS in 2005 and so in 2016, we are reporting that there are about one million people that have died of AIDS, so this is a reduction of approximately half.”
6. Close up, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Peter Ghys, Director, Strategic information and Evaluation Department (UNAIDS):
“So we are calling that efforts be stepped up so that treatment for children can be catching up to treatment levels of adults. We also see that there are specific issues for men and boys because men are less likely to know their status and start treatment than women. Less than half of men living with HIV are accessing antiretroviral treatment and men also are more likely to die of AIDS-related illnesses than women.”
8. Various shots, journalists

Storyline

AIDS-related deaths have nearly halved since 2005 and more than half of all those with HIV now have access to treatment, according to a new UN report.

Speaking today (20 Jul) to media in Geneva, Peter Ghys, Director of the Strategic Information and Evaluation Department at UNAIDS, announced that “a record 19.5 million people with HIV are accessing life-saving treatment, up from just 7.7 million in 2010. There were approximately 1.9 million deaths due to AIDS in 2005 and so in 2016, we are reporting that there are about one million people that have died of AIDS, so this is a reduction of approximately half.”

The new report, Ending AIDS : progress towards the 90-90-90 targets, gives a detailed analysis of progress and challenges encountered since the initiative’s launch in 2014 towards achieving the 90-90-90 targets by its December 2020 deadline. This means working towards the goal of 90 per cent of all people living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 90 per cent of all people diagnosed with HIV accessing sustained antiretroviral therapy and 90 per cent of those people getting successful antiretroviral therapy to protect their health and prevent transmission of the virus.

While this progress is exceptional, Ghys admitted that there is still a lot of work to do: “So we are calling that efforts be stepped up so that treatment for children can be catching up to treatment levels of adults. We also see that there are specific issues for men and boys because men are less likely to know their status and start treatment than women. Less than half of men living with HIV are accessing antiretroviral treatment and men also are more likely to die of AIDS-related illnesses than women.”

Only 43 per cent of children living with HIV have access to antiretroviral therapy compared to 54 per cent of adults. “Ending AIDS” also reveals that as many as two-thirds of children under two years old are diagnosed late which results in a high mortality rate for this age group. In Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, half of the young people do not know their status and more than half do not have access to HIV treatment. The report also reveals that less than 50 per cent of young men know how to protect themselves from HIV infection. They are also less likely to know their status and start treatment than women. Less than half of men living with HIV seek antiretroviral treatment and men also are more likely to die of AIDS-related illnesses than women.

Seven countries have already achieved the 90-90-90 targets: Botswana, Cambodia, Denmark, Iceland, Singapore, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Globally, progress has been significant, but there is still more work to do, as around 30 per cent of people living with HIV still do not know their HIV status. Approximately 17.1 million people living with HIV do not have access to antiretroviral therapy and more than half of all people living with HIV are not virally suppressed.