UN warns against rapid spread of AIDS

International AIDS Society

UN warns against rapid spread of immunodeficiency disease AIDS in Eastern Europe.

(18.07.2010) In the wake of the World AIDS Conference starting in Vienna, the UN has warned against an AIDS epidemic in Eastern Europe. In countries such as Estonia or the Ukranie, every 100th citizen is already infected with the AIDS virus. Especially young people living on the margins of society are affected.

The dangerous immune deficiency disease AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is far from being banned. On the contrary, especially in Eastern Europe and Africa AIDS is still spreading rapidly. Before that, the United Nations warned at the beginning of the International World AIDS Conference. Above all, it affects young people, children and women who have to live on the margins of society. For six days, experts, doctors, politicians and researchers discuss, among other things, how the dangerous and deadly disease can be contained and how the use of so-called virus inhibitors can be improved so that as many infected people as possible can survive. Around 33 million people worldwide are infected with the HI virus, most affected are people in southern Africa, where about 22 million people have AIDS.

Topics of the World AIDS Conference.
Around 25,000 invited guests and experts from 180 countries around the world will take part in the World AIDS Conference with the theme "AIDS 2010". The World AIDS Conference, held every two years, is considered the most important gathering worldwide. On the agenda is the question, what about the human rights of the sick and why the goal of providing all AIDS patients with adequate medicines by 2010 has failed. "It seems that politicians around the world are losing interest and forgetting that once they made a promise," World AIDS Conference Chairman Julio Montaner criticized. Currently, around 5 million receive HIV-infected medicines, while 11 to 14 million have no access to these life-prolonging medicines. Many countries also exclude and discriminate against AIDS sufferers. Above all, in numerous African and Eastern European countries.

Dangerous spread of HI virus in Eastern Europe.
Of particular concern is the rapid spread of the disease in Eastern Europe. Almost every 100 people in Russia, Ukranine or Etsland are infected with HIV. Like the current report of the United Nations AIDS program („UNAIDS“), it is mainly because this development is due to an increased heroin dependency. For example, in Russia every third prostitute uses HIV-infected syringes to inject heroin. In the countries, the AIDS rate is ten times higher than in Central Europe.

Lack of treatment offers and discrimination of AIDS patients.
But not only the enormously increased drug consumption has let the morbidity rate go up. Also missing it to meaningful treatment offers. Because Russia, for example, only 16 percent of sufferers were treated. In Ukraine, the treatment is even lower, just seven percent are treated there. The German Aids-Hilfe criticized the situation in Eastern Europe and urges urgency. So said Silke Klumb, the sufferers are "on a social and political level (in Osteueropa) exposed to insane exclusion and discrimination".

With the guideline „Rights Here, Right Now“ ("Rights here and now"), the experts want to counteract the mass discrimination of people affected by AIDS. "Above all, we hope for political signals to the ruling world, but especially in Eastern Europe, so that there is finally an effective financial and non-material support from the government.", So Klumb of Aids-Hilfe. The German Aidshilfe cooperates with projects and prevention centers worldwide, but also in Eastern Europe. There, activists are financially supported in the fight against AIDS. It is important to show States alternatives to the current drug policy. Models like those in Germany, where clean syringes are distributed to drug addicts, have proven effective in combating the spread of the HIV virus. Such offers hardly exist in Russia or Ukraine. Here you almost exclusively rely on repression and persecution.

AIDS infection rate in Germany.
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), 2856 newly diagnosed HIV-infected people were registered. That's about half as it was the year before. It seems as if a rise is stopped first. "The almost 3,000 new HIV diagnoses in Germany per year are among the lowest in the world," explains Jörg Litwinschuh to the "Welt" on Sunday. If it should be possible to further reduce the incidence of new diseases, this is a great success for the preventive measures in Germany. Above all, education campaigns that promoted the use of condoms have helped. This has created a new awareness, especially among young people, explains the Federal Health Center. Meanwhile, about 86 percent of 16- to 44-year-olds use condoms in new relationships. Ten years ago, it was just 65 percent. Currently, about 67,000 people in Germany are infected with AIDS.

On the first day of the conference numerous lectures were given on the topics "Substance Substitution Therapy", "Costs of AIDS in Africa" ​​and "Sex and Stigma". The conference will last another six days. (Sb)