COVID-19 has had a “devastating impact” on the fight against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, which has seen an unprecedented decline, the Global Fund to Fight the Disease said in its annual report, AFP reported.
For the first time since its inception in 2002, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM or Global Fund, no.) Reported a setback, and the fund’s representatives were particularly concerned about the significant reductions in HIV screening and prevention services for key and vulnerable populations and a sharp decline in the number of people being tested and treated for TB, with a particular impact on drug-resistant TB programs.
The 2020 figures “confirm what we feared when COVID-19 appeared,” said Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund, quoted in the report. “The impact of COVID-19 has been devastating. For the first time in our history, the main indicators are declining, ” he added.
COVID-19 has severely disrupted access to health care, screening and treatment in many countries.
The coronavirus pandemic has had “catastrophic” consequences in the fight against tuberculosis. In 2020, the number of people treated for drug-resistant tuberculosis will fall by 19%. In the countries where the Global Fund invests, approximately 4.7 million people with this disease have received treatment, about 1 million less compared to 2019.
In terms of the fight against HIV, the impact of COVID-19 is also significant. While the number of HIV-positive people receiving antiretroviral therapy continued to rise by 9% in 2020, the report indicates an “alarming” decline in prevention and testing services for key and vulnerable people.
The number of people accessing AIDS prevention programs has decreased by 11% in 2020 – by 12% among the youngest populations. The number of treatments given to mothers so that their babies did not contract the virus decreased by 4.5%.
Innovations
AIDS testing has declined globally by 22%, delaying the start of treatment in most countries.
In the countries in which the Global Fund invests, 21.9 million people received antiretroviral therapy for HIV in 2020, an increase of 8.8% compared to 2019.
To date, malaria control programs appear to have been less affected by COVID-19, the report said.
The number of mosquito nets distributed continued to grow, by 17% in 2020. In several countries, malaria volunteers have given up their distribution to large pandemic-incompatible centers, preferring to distribute them door-to-door.
However, the number of tests performed on people suspected of having malaria fell by 4.3% in 2020. And progress in limiting the spread of the disease has stagnated, the Global Fund noted.
The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the “critical importance” of health systems around the world, GFATM said.
However, there are some reasons for hope – the pandemic has been the source of several beneficial innovations in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. In Nigeria, for example, the national AIDS agency conducted HIV tests on people attending COVID-19 testing centers, according to the Global Fund. The result: the detection of HIV-positive people increased.
In 2020, the rapid response of the Global Fund in the context of the pandemic made it possible to avoid the worst possible situation, the organization noted. Last year, GFATM spent $ 4.2 billion to continue the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
The Global Fund is an original partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and patients. Half of its funds are used to fight AIDS, with the other half being directed against malaria and tuberculosis. Since its inception in 2002, the Global Fund has claimed that 44 million lives have been saved.
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