Angola has around 310,000 people living with HIV/AIDS and has an annual record of 15,000 new infections and around 13,000 deaths related to the disease, UNAIDS announced on Wednesday November 29.
Data from the Joint United Nations Program to Combat HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in Angola were transmitted Wednesday, in Luanda, during a ceremony to present the Global Report on HIV/AIDS 2023 “Let Communities Lead”.
In a statement, UNAIDS states that, between 2010 and 2022, Angola had a 45% reduction in the incidence of HIV/AIDS.
The data indicate that young people between 15 and 24 years old are the group that records the highest incidence (0.7%), and among young girls and women it is 1.1%, “four times higher than that of boys (0.3 %) and even more critical among young women in the key population category (prostitutes)”.
UNAIDS expresses concern about the outdated data from the latest Integrated Biological and Behavioral Survey for key populations, highlighting that Angola is committed to accelerating prevention actions and sexual and reproductive health services.
Angola’s commitment to implement the main recommendations of the Assessment of the Legal Environment for HIV/AIDS and the right to sexual reproductive health, through the National Strategic Plan for Response to HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis and other Sexually Transmitted Infections 2023-2026, are set out axis of UNAIDS concerns.
The Joint United Nations Program to Combat HIV/AIDS highlights the increase in diagnosis (40%-93%) and treatment (34%-79%) among HIV-positive pregnant women, between 2018 and 2022, as “main progress” recorded by Angola. Little community investment for prevention, stigma and discrimination, few resources to contain the expansion of the viral load and poor adherence to antiretroviral treatment due to lack of social support are highlighted by UNAIDS as the main challenges for Angola.