Publications

This report is being released by the WHO Regional Office for Africa on the occasion of World AIDS Day 2013. It provides updated information, at regional and sub-regional level, and in some countries, on the epidemiological situation of HIV and progress made so far towards achieving Universal Access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support in the WHO African Region.

The report shows that remarkable progress has been made in expanding and scaling up health sector HIV prevention, treatment, care and support interventions and services in the past years. Countries in the African Region are on the right track “to have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS”. HIV prevalence among ANC attendees in the region has declined from 9.5% in 2000 to 3.5% in 2011/2012. Indeed, HIV prevalence among ANC attendees has declined in more than half of the countries in the region and for many others prevalence rates are stabilising or beginning to decline. 

However, on the whole, HIV prevalence rates remain unacceptably high, especially in southern and eastern Africa.

Progress has also been made towards the elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV. Coverage rates for HIV testing and counselling among pregnant women have increased and uptake of ARV for PMTCT has improved substantially with 63% of pregnant women living with HIV having received

ARV for PMTCT in the region in 2012, an increase from 34% in 2009. The report also highlights the progress made in the scaling-up of life-saving and infection-prevention HIV treatment, with a total of 7,524,000 people in need receiving antiretroviral therapy by the end of December 2012, an increase of more than 90% from December 2009. These achievements have all been possible through the collective efforts of many partners led by African governments. There has been significant financial investment in the HIV/AIDS response by governments and partners. Drugs and commodities have been made more accessible in all countries, innovative ways of delivering services have been expanded, activism has promoted visibility of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and especially people living with HIV have been at the forefront of the response.

The report also highlights challenges in the current HIV response that need to be addressed. New HIV infections are still occurring at unacceptably high rates. Most people in the region are unaware of their HIV status. Access to HIV prevention and treatment interventions and services still remains inadequate, especially for vulnerable and key populations. A significant proportion of people still drop out of care and many national HIV programmes in the region are heavily dependent on international financial resources.