Covid-19 undercuts HIV fight

The report called for the empowerment of girls and young women to not only reduce their risk of HIV infection, but to improve their lifelong health and social benefits.
Jemima Beukes
JEMIMA BEUKES

WINDHOEK

The latest World Aids Day report has cautioned that the curves of HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths are not bending fast enough, adding that the colossal new challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic are threatening the gains made in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

There are also concerns that the pandemic has undone gains made on the front of gender equality and has set it back with at least a generation. It will now take the world nearly 136 years to close the global gender gap.

“Job and income losses during the pandemic have been higher among women, and their unpaid care burdens have increased. Dozens of studies have documented increases in violence against women and girls during the pandemic. “That increased violence - along with physical and emotional harm - is also associated with increased risk of HIV infection and worse health outcomes for women living with HIV,” the report found.

It is also projected that 11 million girls may never return to school following the pandemic.

While adolescent girls and women still far outnumber men and boys among those acquiring HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa, men in the region are less likely to go for testing and treatment.

Empowerment

The report repeated calls for the empowerment of adolescent girls and young women to not only reduce their risk of HIV infection, but to improve their lifelong health and social benefits.

It also found that the pandemic undercut the agreed actions made six months ago, to address these inequalities, to close gaps in HIV service access by 2025 and to get on track to the global goal of ending AIDS by 2030.

The biggest disruptions to HIV services were in the first half of 2020, when many countries were in their first lockdowns and HIV programmes were scrambling to adapt, the report read.

World Aids Day is commemorated on 1 December every year, and this year’s commemoration highlighted the increasing challenges countries face as they fight parallel pandemics.

Titled ‘Unequal, Unprepared, Under Threat’, the report highlighted that considerable gaps remain and that entrenched inequalities stand in the way of further progress against AIDS, leaving the world vulnerable to future pandemics.

“There is no time to spare. Health systems and communities are now being pushed to the breaking point by the pandemic that the world was woefully unprepared for, despite clear warnings by infectious disease experts and even Hollywood blockbuster films.

“Worse yet, two years of the Covid-19 crisis has so far failed to inspire a unified global response to the new pandemic: Wealthy nations hoard vaccines and struggle to convince sufficient proportions of their populations to get vaccinated, while low- and middle-income countries are left exposed to the full force of the next wave of infections.”

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Namibian Sun 2024-03-19

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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 155.44/OZ DOWN -0.0031 | Copper US$ 4.06/lb DOWN -0.0106 | Zinc US$ 2 500.40/T DOWN -1.54% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 86.77/BBP DOWN -0.0032 | Platinum US$ 902.32/OZ DOWN -0.0155 Sport results: Six Nations: France 33 vs 31 England | Ireland 17 vs 13 Scotland | Wales 21 vs 24 Italy Premier League: Brighton 0 vs 0 Manchester City | West Ham 1 vs 1 Aston Villa | Everton 0 vs 0 Liverpool | Fulham 3 vs 0 Tottenham Hotspur | Manchester United 0 vs 0 Sheffield United | Luton Town 1 vs 1 Forest | Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 vs 0 Bournemouth | Crystal Palace 0 vs 0 Newcastle | Burnley 2 vs 1 Brentford | Arsenal 0 vs 0 Chelsea LaLiga: Atletico Madrid 0 vs 3 Barcelona | Rayo Vallecano 2 vs 0 Real Betis | Las Palmas 0 vs 1 Almería | Villarreal 1 vs 0 Valencia | Sevilla 1 vs 2 Celta Vigo | Athletic Club 2 vs 0 Deportivo Alaves | Getafe 1 vs 0 Girona | Osasuna 2 vs 4 Real Madrid | Mallorca 1 vs 0 Granada SerieA: Internazionale 1 vs 1 Napoli | AS Roma 1 vs 0 Sassuolo | Atalanta 0 vs 0 Fiorentina | Hellas Verona 1 vs 3 AC Milan | Juventus 0 vs 0 Genoa | Frosinone 2 vs 3 SS Lazio | Salernitana 0 vs 1 Lecce | Monza 1 vs 0 Cagliari | Udinese 0 vs 2 Torino European Championships Qualifying: Leeds United 2 vs 0 Millwall FC | West Bromwich Albion 2 vs 0 Bristol City | Plymouth Argyle 0 vs 1 Preston North End | Rotherham United 0 vs 0 Huddersfield Town | Stoke City 0 vs 3 Norwich City | Middlesbrough 0 vs 0 Blackburn Rovers | Birmingham City 0 vs 1 Watford | Ipswich Town 6 vs 0 Sheffield Wednesday | Sunderland 0 vs 0 Queens Park Rangers | Swansea City 2 vs 0 Cardiff City FA Cup: Manchester United 4 vs 3 Liverpool | Chelsea 4 vs 2 Leicester City | Manchester City 2 vs 0 Newcastle United | Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 vs 3 Coventry City English Championship: Leeds United 2 vs 0 Millwall FC | West Bromwich Albion 2 vs 0 Bristol City | Plymouth Argyle 0 vs 1 Preston North End | Rotherham United 0 vs 0 Huddersfield Town | Stoke City 0 vs 3 Norwich City | Middlesbrough 0 vs 0 Blackburn Rovers | Birmingham City 0 vs 1 Watford | Ipswich Town 6 vs 0 Sheffield Wednesday | Sunderland 0 vs 0 Queens Park Rangers | Swansea City 2 vs 0 Cardiff City Weather: Katima Mulilo: 18° | 37° Rundu: 20° | 38° Eenhana: 20° | 36° Oshakati: 23° | 35° Ruacana: 21° | 36° Tsumeb: 21° | 37° Otjiwarongo: 18° | 35° Omaruru: 20° | 37° Windhoek: 19° | 34° Gobabis: 19° | 36° Henties Bay: 19° | 24° Wind speed: 19km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 06:31, High tide: 12:45, Low Tide: 18:51, High tide: 01:21 Swakopmund: 17° | 19° Wind speed: 16km/h, Wind direction: W, Low tide: 06:29, High tide: 12:43, Low Tide: 18:49, High tide: 01:19 Walvis Bay: 18° | 26° Wind speed: 22km/h, Wind direction: W, Low tide: 06:29, High tide: 12:42, Low Tide: 18:49, High tide: 01:18 Rehoboth: 18° | 35° Mariental: 24° | 37° Keetmanshoop: 22° | 37° Aranos: 24° | 37° Lüderitz: 24° | 36° Ariamsvlei: 27° | 38° Oranjemund: 17° | 29° Luanda: 27° | 29° Gaborone: 23° | 37° Lubumbashi: 16° | 26° Mbabane: 18° | 22° Maseru: 15° | 33° Antananarivo: 16° | 25° Lilongwe: 17° | 27° Maputo: 23° | 27° Windhoek: 19° | 34° Cape Town: 20° | 27° Durban: 22° | 24° Johannesburg: 18° | 32° Dar es Salaam: 24° | 32° Lusaka: 17° | 28° Harare: 15° | 32° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 23.97 | EUR to NAD 20.54 | CNY to NAD 2.63 | USD to NAD 18.96 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.34 | EGP to NAD 0.39 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.73 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.76 | RUB to NAD 0.21 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.31 | USD to AOA 832.63 | USD to BWP 13.71 | USD to EGP 47.15 | USD to KES 132.98 | USD to NGN 1572.01 | USD to ZAR 18.96 | USD to ZMW 25.65 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 72430.44 Down -0.77% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1504.69 Down -0.83% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 13085.63 Up +0.17% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 29091.29 Down -6.34% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI 9055.2 Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 155.44/OZ DOWN -0.0031 | Copper US$ 4.06/lb DOWN -0.0106 | Zinc US$ 2 500.40/T DOWN -1.54% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 86.77/BBP DOWN -0.0032 | Platinum US$ 902.32/OZ DOWN -0.0155