Why focus on HIV? Is it still an issue? Haven’t things improved?
The HIV epidemic continues to affect the lives of people across sub-Saharan Africa, but there have been significant improvements. In sub-Saharan Africa in 2003, which was the height of the epidemic, 3.2 million people newly acquired HIV that year.  Twenty years later that number has fallen by 80% to an annual total of 660,000. In 2003, 2.3 million people in the region died of AIDS-related illnesses. Since that time, the number of deaths has fallen by 83%. In 2023, there were 380,000 deaths.  This decrease in deaths is largely due to the increase in access to anti-retroviral treatment. More and more people are on ARVs and are virally suppressed, meaning they cannot pass on the virus.
Today over 80% of people living with HIV are on treatment. The UNAIDS report in 2003 didn’t even contain figures for how many people were on treatment at that time because it was so rare. While we have more and more tests and medicines to prevent and treat HIV, what continues to drive the HIV epidemic is inequities. Inequities driven by racism, colonialism, gender inequality, homophobia and transphobia. Realizing human rights for all is the ultimate key to ending AIDS. When we dig into the numbers mentioned earlier, we see that the progress of the last 2 years has not been equal. For instance, teenage girls and young women, men who have sex with men, trans people, and sex workers are all more likely to be living with HIV because of the discrimination they face. And this inequality is what the SLF’s partners — community ed organizations — are working diligently to address.