Dr. Avnish Jolly, Winnipeg, Canada December 1, 2014 : World AIDS Day was marked around the world and HIV/AIDS campaigns working to combat the virus. The first case with HIV/ AIDS was identified in 1981; AIDS pandemic has slayed around 40 million people globally. HIV is spread rapidly among female sex workers, men having sex with men, transgender and injecting drug users (IDUs). It pointed out that HIV positive cases transmitted from mother to child was highest and accounted for around 5 percent of the total spread of infection, whereas homosexual and bisexual practices contributed for 1.5 percent. HIV transmission through blood and blood products was 1 percent and infected syringe and needles contributed for another 1.7 percent. Other unknown modes of transmission contributed to 2.7 percent.
According to UNAIDS in 2013, 35 million people were living with HIV, 2.1 million people were newly infected with the virus and some 1.5 million people died of AIDS. Most of People Living with HIV/AIDS lives in sub-Saharan Africa. UNAIDS, discloses that, by June 2014, some 13.6 million people globally had access to AIDS medicine, a vivid improvement on the 5 million who were getting treatment in 2010.
According to UNAIDS in India, the prevalence of the virus being transmitted from the mother to the child is also high and the third highest country to have people living with HIV/AIDS, which means four out of every 10 people carry the virus within them. It is estimated that India had 2.1 million HIV/AIDS cases by the end of 2013, of which 61 percent are male, 39 percent female and five percent of children who suffer from the disease.
The number of people newly infected with HIV over the last year was lower than the number of HIV-positive people who joined those getting access to the medicines they need to take for life to live healthy and meaningful life. HIV/AIDS treatment report 2013 in India depicts around 700,000 people on antiretroviral (AZT), the second largest number recorded for a single country. However, the proportion of people who do not have access to AZT in India amounts to around 64 percent.
In Canada, men have a shorter average life expectancy than women, tend to access health care services less frequently, and experience higher mortality rates across many leading causes of death. HIV remains an issue of concern in Canada, particularly among vulnerable populations. This partnership between Canadian Institutes of Health Research Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research and the Ontario HIV Treatment Network will strengthen Canada’s coordination of research efforts for PLHIV in Canada.
In 2011, an estimated 76.7% of people living with HIV in Canada were male. Nearly half (46.7%) of those living with HIV were men who have sex with men (MSM). The health researchers supported through this initiative are committed to the pursuit of remedies’-focused on male’s health. Canada is committed to research to address the global challenge of HIV/AIDS.
In this circumstances all of us at global level celebrated AIDS Day’ 2014 and give more meaning to vision of Albert Schweitzer, who said “The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others”.