 | This article has no lead section .(August 2021) |
| | This article has no lead section .(August 2021) |
HIV is spreading quickly in Guinea. The estimated total number of adults and children living with HIV in 2003 was 140,000 (with a low estimate of 51,000 and a high estimate of 360,000), up from an estimated 110,000 in 2001, indicating an increase in adult prevalence of 0.4% (from 2.8 to 3.2%) over the two-year period. [1]
HIV prevalence varies by region. Surveillance surveys conducted among women seeking antenatal care in 2001 and 2002 show higher rates of HIV in urban areas than in rural areas (3.2 vs. 2.6%, respectively). Prevalence was highest in Conakry (5%) and in the cities of the Forest Guinea region (7%) bordering Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. [1]
HIV is spread primarily through multiple-partner intercourse. Men and women are at nearly equal risk for HIV, with young people aged 15 to 24 most vulnerable. Surveillance figures from 2001 to 2002 show high rates among commercial sex workers (42%), active military personnel (6.6%), truck drivers and bush taxi drivers (7.3%), miners (4.7%), and adults with tuberculosis (8.6%). [1]
Several factors are fueling the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Guinea. They include unprotected sex, multiple sexual partners, illiteracy, endemic poverty, unstable borders, refugee migration, lack of civic responsibility, and scarce medical care and public services. [1]
As one of the poorest nations in the world, Guinea faces daunting social, economic, and political problems. Until 2002, the national response to the epidemic was weak, primarily because of a lack of governmental commitment, poor leadership, and inadequate resources. Since then, high-level political commitment and will to fight HIV/AIDS have been strengthened, but little money has been allocated to health, and most government-backed projects are funded primarily with external financing. [1]
The National AIDS Control Program was reorganized in 2002, partly to meet the requirements for receipt of a $20 million loan from the World Bank to fight HIV/AIDS. Government response to the epidemic is now directed through the Office of the Prime Minister. The National AIDS Commission directs general activities, whereas the National Program for the Care, Support, and Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS manages clinical activities (i.e., overseeing surveillance and testing, and providing counseling, care, and support to individuals living with HIV/AIDS). [1]
About half of the government ministries have designed action plans to address HIV/AIDS in their work. The Ministry of Communication, for example, is charged with managing behavior change communication efforts, and the Ministry of Planning supervises epidemiological research. [1]
The global epidemic of HIV/AIDS began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2021, HIV/AIDS has killed approximately 40.1 million people, and approximately 38.4 million people are infected with HIV globally. Of these 38.4 million people, 75% are receiving antiretroviral treatment. There were about 770,000 deaths from HIV/AIDS in 2018, and 650,000 deaths in 2021. The 2015 Global Burden of Disease Study estimated that the global incidence of HIV infection peaked in 1997 at 3.3 million per year. Global incidence fell rapidly from 1997 to 2005, to about 2.6 million per year. Incidence of HIV has continued to fall, decreasing by 23% from 2010 to 2020, with progress dominated by decreases in Eastern Africa and Southern Africa. As of 2020, there are approximately 1.5 million new infections of HIV per year globally.
In 2008, 4.7 million people in Asia were living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Asia's epidemic peaked in the mid-1990s, and annual HIV incidence has declined since then by more than half. Regionally, the epidemic has remained somewhat stable since 2000.
HIV is recognized as a health concern in Pakistan with the number of cases growing. Moderately high drug use and lack of acceptance that non-marital sex is common in the society have allowed the HIV epidemic to take hold in Pakistan, mainly among injecting drug users (IDU), male, female and transvestite sex workers as well as the repatriated migrant workers. HIV infection can lead to AIDS that may become a major health issue.
Since the first HIV/AIDS case in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) was identified in 1990, the number of infections has continued to grow. In 2005, UNAIDS estimated that 3,700 people in Lao PDR were living with HIV.
Angola has a large HIV/AIDS infected population, however, it has one of the lowest prevalence rates in the Southern Africa zone. The status of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Angola is expected to change within the near future due to several forms of behavioral, cultural, and economic characteristics within the country such as lack of knowledge and education, low levels of condom use, the frequency of sex and number of sex partners, economic disparities and migration. There is a significant amount of work being done in Angola to combat the epidemic, but most aid is coming from outside of the country.
The number of adults and children living with HIV/AIDS in Benin in 2003 was estimated by the Joint United Nations Programme for HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to range between 38,000 and 120,000, with nearly equal numbers of males and females. A recent study conducted by the National AIDS Control Program estimated the number of people living with HIV/AIDS to be 71,950. In 2003, an estimated 6,140 adults and children died of AIDS. Benin has a well-functioning system of antenatal HIV surveillance; in 2002, the median HIV prevalence at 36 antenatal clinics was 1.9%. Another study in 2002 showed an overall prevalence of 2.3% among adults in Cotonou, Benin's largest city.
Like other countries worldwide, HIV/AIDS is present in Ghana. As of 2014, an estimated 150,000 people infected with the virus. HIV prevalence is at 1.37 percent in 2014 and is highest in the Eastern Region of Ghana and lowest in the northern regions of the country. In response to the epidemic, the government has established the Ghana AIDS Commission which coordinates efforts amongst NGO's, international organizations and other parties to support the education about and treatment of aids throughout Ghana and alleviating HIV/AIDS issues in Ghana.
Rwanda faces a generalized epidemic, with an HIV prevalence rate of 3.1 percent among adults ages 15 to 49. The prevalence rate has remained relatively stable, with an overall decline since the late 1990s, partly due to improved HIV surveillance methodology. In general, HIV prevalence is higher in urban areas than in rural areas, and women are at higher risk of HIV infection than men. Young women ages 15 to 24 are twice as likely to be infected with HIV as young men in the same age group. Populations at higher risk of HIV infection include people in prostitution and men attending clinics for sexually transmitted infections.
With less than 0.1 percent of the population estimated to be HIV-positive, Bangladesh is a low HIV-prevalence country.
UNAIDS has said that HIV/AIDS in Indonesia is one of Asia's fastest growing epidemics. In 2010, it is expected that 5 million Indonesians will have HIV/AIDS. In 2007, Indonesia was ranked 99th in the world by prevalence rate, but because of low understanding of the symptoms of the disease and high social stigma attached to it, only 5-10% of HIV/AIDS sufferers actually get diagnosed and treated. According to the a census conducted in 2019, it is counted that 640,443 people in the country are living with HIV. The adult prevalence for HIV/ AIDS in the country is 0.4%. Indonesia is the country is Southeast Asia to have the most number of recorded people living with HIV while Thailand has the highest adult prevalence.
HIV/AIDS in Bolivia has a less than 1 percent prevalence of Bolivia's adult population estimated to be HIV-positive. Bolivia has one of the lowest HIV prevalence rates in the Latin America and Caribbean region.
The Dominican Republic has a 0.7 percent prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS, among the lowest percentage-wise in the Caribbean region. However, it has the second most cases in the Caribbean region in total, with an estimated 46,000 HIV/AIDS-positive Dominicans as of 2013.
Honduras is the Central American country most adversely affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It is estimated that the prevalence of HIV among Honduran adults is 1.5%.
HIV/AIDS in Jamaica has a 1.5 percent prevalence of the adult population estimated to be HIV-positive. There has been no significant change over the last five years and therefore Jamaica appears to have stabilized its HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Nicaragua has 0.2 percent of the adult population estimated to be HIV-positive. Nicaragua has one of the lowest HIV prevalence rates in Central America.
With 1.28 percent of the adult population estimated by UNAIDS to be HIV-positive in 2006, Papua New Guinea has one of the most serious HIV/AIDS epidemics in the Asia-Pacific subregion. Although this new prevalence rate is significantly lower than the 2005 UNAIDS estimate of 1.8 percent, it is considered to reflect improvements in surveillance rather than a shrinking epidemic. Papua New Guinea accounts for 70 percent of the subregion's HIV cases and is the fourth country after Thailand, Cambodia, and Burma to be classified as having a generalized HIV epidemic.
The first HIV/AIDS case in Malaysia made its debut in 1986. Since then, HIV/AIDS has become one of the country's most serious health and development challenges. As of 2020, the Ministry of Health estimated that 87 per cent of an estimated 92,063 people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Malaysia were aware of their status, 58 per cent of reported PLHIV received antiretroviral therapy, and 85 per cent of those on antiretroviral treatment became virally suppressed. Despite making positive progress, Malaysia still fell short of meeting the global 2020 HIV goals of 90-90-90, with a scorecard of 87-58-85.
Guinea faces a number of ongoing health challenges.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .