UNAIDS Raises Alarm On Deadlier HIV Variant.
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS has raised concern over a deadlier HIV variant.
This report was culled from recently published research from the Netherlands.
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The research was led by researchers from the University of Oxford’s Big Data Institute.
According to the researcher, this new HIV variant is more transmissible and deadlier.
In a statement released on Monday, this variant makes people experience double immune system decline.
The statement read:
“People living with the newly revealed subtype, experience double the rate of immune system decline (measured by the CD4 count level of infection-busting T cells) and have higher viral loads.
“They are also vulnerable to developing AIDS two to three times faster after diagnosis, than if they were living with other strains of the virus.”
This research further claimed that this variant is receptive to treatment. However, the same variant has been circulating in the Netherlands for years.
It was gathered that the researchers of this report were the first to report the subtype-B of HIV.
This report, according to the UNAIDS was necessitated to reach all with testing and treatment.
It says that the HIV pandemic still threatens the life of every human. The evolution of the new and deadlier variants of the virus has been an area of concern for scientists.
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The UNAIDS said that this new variant poses no major public health threat, however, it halts the speed to end AIDS.
Eamonn Murphy, the Deputy Executive Director of the Programme said that around 10 million people living with HIV are still not on antiretroviral therapy.
He noted that this has fuelled “the continued spread of the virus and potential for further variants.”
“We urgently need to deploy cutting-edge medical innovations in ways that reach the communities most in need.
“Whether it’s HIV treatment or COVID-19 vaccines, inequalities in access are perpetuating pandemics in ways that harm us all,” Murphy said.
UNAIDS insisted that HIV is the deadliest pandemic of this era.
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Since the early 80s when it was discovered, 79 million persons have become infected with the virus.
Also, it has no known vaccine or cure.
Meanwhile, 36 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the early ’80s. There is also an estimate of 1.5 million new infections in 2020.
In recent times, there is a total of 38 million people living with the disease. Of the 38 million, 28 million persons are on life-saving antiretroviral therapy while 10 are not on any treatment.
Source: PUNCH HealthWise
