Today, December 1, is the “World Day for the Fight against AIDS, a date on which it is remembered that discrimination in relation to HIV AIDS is a matter of Human Rights. People have the right to be protected and to lead a dignified life without stigmatizing attitudes that do not allow them to exercise their rights.
Stigma discourages people from accessing health services, including prevention methods, knowing their HIV status, and pursuing treatment. The words we use and our actions matter, they affect people with HIV/AIDS.
UNAIDS urges each and every one of us to address inequalities. The slogan “Equality Now” is a call to action, it aims to encourage us to work on all those practical steps that have been shown to be necessary to address inequalities and help end AIDS.
National data
Regarding the epidemiological situation of HIV in Paraguay, since the beginning of the epidemic in our country in 1985, until the year 2020, 23,732 people diagnosed with HIV were registered, among whom 6,728 were categorized as AIDS .
In 2021, 1,318 new HIV diagnoses were registered, of which 239 were categorized as AIDS, reported the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare (Mspybs).
It was possible to observe the distribution of the new diagnoses according to age groups. Of the new diagnoses in 2021, 55.39% were in the age group between 20 and 34 years. On the other hand, 0.68% were under 5 years of age.
Until October of this year, there are 1,091 new diagnoses, of which 329 are in the AIDS stage. Of those diagnosed, 26% are women and 74% are men. Regarding age, 41.6% are between 15 and 29 years old, and 38.13% are between 30 and 44 years old. On the other hand, 127 people with HIV have died.
SOURCE: IP AGENCY
