Hospital.Help

Munich – The global community must work together towards the goal of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) called for this today at the opening event of the 25th World AIDS Conference (AIDS2024).

Germany will continue to support the efforts, the Chancellor assured. Scholz also appealed to other donor countries to provide even more financial support. The World Health Organization (WHO) in particular needs even more international support.

An overall strategy against HIV and AIDS must involve more research, better prevention, patient-centered education and information, as well as a determined fight against discrimination, said Scholz.

This week, the Bavarian capital of Munich will be the meeting point for the world’s largest scientific meeting to combat the AIDS pathogen HIV. More than 10,000 participants are expected to attend the conference.

Until Friday, doctors, health experts and activists from more than 175 countries will meet at the invitation of the International AIDS Society (IAS) to discuss how the HIV pathogen and the acquired immune deficiency syndrome AIDS can be further contained. The meeting is taking place in Germany for the first time in three decades: in 1993, the experts met in Berlin.

Christoph Spinner, infectious disease specialist and senior physician at the Klinikum rechts der Isar, emphasized that they have come a long way in the fight against HIV. He believes that the conference will be a valuable platform for discussing achievements as well as ongoing challenges. Bavaria can learn from others, for example, that preventive measures also make sense to include safe drug consumption rooms.

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One topic of the conference is pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). If taken correctly, appropriate medication can prevent infection. However, these are not available in many parts of the world and are often unknown in Europe, except among gay and bisexual men.

A vaginal ring is used in some African countries. It is made of silicone and is inserted into the vagina, where it releases an antiretroviral agent.

Africa’s hopes also rest on injectable drugs to protect against infection, which only need to be administered every two to six months. New studies on this and many other topics will be presented at the conference.

Numerous organizations and representatives of different communities are presenting themselves as part of the World AIDS Congress at the Global Village. This part of the congress is freely accessible and is intended to bring people who deal with HIV and AIDS together beyond scientific debates. They are united by the fight against the spread of the virus, but also against stigmatization and discrimination.

“It’s about creating a lively place for exchange and making the topic tangible,” said Tobias Weismantel, managing director of Munich Aids Help and co-chair of the Global Village. “HIV is a global problem.” It can only be solved if we work together worldwide.

The number of deaths has been reduced to less than a third since 2004, when around two million people worldwide died as a result of AIDS. Nevertheless, according to figures from the UN Programme to Combat HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), one person dies every minute as a result of AIDS. Infections are rising again, particularly in Eastern Europe; in Africa they remain high despite much progress in the fight against HIV.

According to UNAIDS, almost 40 million people worldwide were living with the virus in 2022, and about a quarter – 9.2 million – had no or insufficient access to treatment. Before the official opening of the conference, UNAIDS plans to publish the figures for new infections and deaths for 2023 in the morning, and one focus – as at the conference – will be on Eastern Europe. © dpa/aha/aerzteblatt.de