Canada

The head of the World Health Organization reports on the progress of the Montreal conference on the risk of HIV

From the Canadian Press

August 1, 2022 | 11:58 am

MONTREAL — The director-general of the World Health Organization told an international AIDS conference in Montreal today that rising inequality could reverse a decade of progress in the fight against HIV.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who addressed the 2022 AIDS conference via video, says that COVID-19, inflation and cuts in foreign aid by rich countries are deepening the divide between rich and poor nations.

He says that while the number of HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths is much lower than it was a decade ago, that progress could easily be reversed.

Gebreyesus says he worries that access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment tools is often based on where people live and how much money they have.