According to the executive director of the United Nations AIDS agency, HIV infections could have a peak in the western and central regions of Africa due to the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic in health services.
“We are seeing across countries, a decrease in people receiving prevention, a decrease in people testing, and increasing numbers [of] people falling out of treatments,” Winnie Byanyima told Reuters news agency.
She said these are not good signs, but it is still not yet clear what the impact will be on deaths and new infections.
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In July 2020 UNAIDS had warned that Covid-19 could put the fight against HIV back by more than 10 years.