AIDS: Brazil has a rise in cases, but lower mortality since 2013

In 2023, Brazil recorded a 4.5% increase in the number of HIV cases compared to 2022. However, in the same period, the mortality rate fell to 3.9 deaths, the lowest in the last ten years, according to data released this Thursday (12) by the Ministry of Health.

In total, 38 thousand cases of the disease were recorded last year. The North Region had the highest detection rate (26%), followed by the South Region, 25%. The majority of cases were registered among men (around 27 thousand). As for age group, cases occur among people aged 25 to 29.

AIDS deaths reached 10,338 in 2023, the lowest record since 2013.

According to the Ministry of Health, the increase in cases is related to the expansion of the supply of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP).

“Since to start prophylaxis, it is necessary to be tested. As a result, more people with HIV infection were detected and immediately included in antiretroviral therapy. The challenge now is to reconnect people who interrupted treatment or were abandoned, many of them in the last government, as well as making treatment available to all newly diagnosed people so that they have a better quality of life”, says a note from the ministry.

This year, Brazil reached 109 thousand users with PrEP treatment, compared to 50.7 thousand in 2022. Prophylaxis is distributed, free of charge, by the Unified Health System (SUS), being one of the main strategies to prevent HIV infection .

The increase in diagnoses has made Brazil reach another stage towards eliminating AIDS as a public health problem by 2030, a commitment made with the United Nations. In 2023, 96% of people infected with HIV and who were unaware of the condition were diagnosed.

The UN target predicts that 95% of people living with HIV will be diagnosed; 95% of them on antiretroviral treatment; and, of the group undergoing treatment, 95% had intransmissible HIV. Currently, the Brazilian percentages for these requirements are 96%, 82% and 95%, respectively, according to the ministry.