HIV - Aids-Conference: optimistic signals, concern about financing
With hopeful impulses for better HIV protection worldwide, the World Aids Conference in Munich is coming to an end. Data presented were encouraging, said the local congress president Christoph Spinner. HIV is now treatable with great success, and there are significant advancements in prevention.
For the first time in about 30 years, the world's largest conference on HIV and Aids took place in Germany again. Nearly 10,000 attendees came, and over 2,000 participated online. It was important that networking took place, said the infectious disease specialist at the Klinikum rechts der Isar of the Technical University of Munich. "We brought together people from politics, science, and the community."
More efforts for the HIV goal of the UN
However, more efforts and binding financial pledges from countries are needed to achieve, as intended by the UN, the widespread defeat of HIV by 2030 and a 90% reduction in new infections, said Spinner. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz made an important step at the beginning of the conference with his promise that Germany would continue to participate unchanged in the financing of programs like the Global Fund.
The German Aids-Help also called for more political and financial engagement. "This conference has shown more clearly than ever before: The world has highly effective means, but the financing of measures against HIV/Aids is globally insufficient, and in many countries, there is also a lack of political will for prevention for particularly affected groups," said Winfried Holz from the management at the conclusion of the world's largest scientific meeting on HIV and Aids.
Global financial resources for the fight against HIV in countries with low and middle income are decreasing according to the UN Programme UNAIDS. In 2023, they fell by five percent compared to the previous year to 19.8 billion US dollars and were 9.5 billion dollars short of the needed 29.3 billion US dollars by 2025.
"Gamechanger" in prevention in sight
Regarding prevention, there are great hopes for a medication that is sprayed half-yearly. It prevented an infection in over 5,300 young women and girls in southern Africa - a group that has a particularly high HIV risk - 100%. This medication could become a "gamechanger," said Spinner. "There's a chance for a breakthrough in prevention."
The question now is whether this medication - as demanded by the German Aids-Help, activists, and the UN Programme UNAIDS - can be made available quickly and affordably, especially in regions heavily affected by HIV.
A series of studies have shown treatment successes over now more than 25 years. However, it's about ensuring access to life-saving medications worldwide. "In Germany, we generally don't have a problem with this." More than 95% of people with HIV receive medication here that also prevents virus transmission. According to UNAIDS statistics, however, only 77% of adults and 57% of children under 14 years old worldwide receive such treatment.
New medications have not been introduced or withdrawn in Germany recently, which concerns Spinner. This applies especially to medications for people who have been treated for many years and therefore depend on reserve medications. Here, politics in Germany needs to act.
At prevention, there is still a need for "room to breathe" in Germany, as rising infection numbers among Heterosexuals, particularly intravenous drug users, indicate. Spinner once again urged the establishment of drug consumption rooms and integrated support services in Bavaria, as they exist in other federal states and countries. Munich's Mayor Dieter Reiter had called on Minister-President Markus Soeder (CSU) to reconsider - Munich has been advocating for drug consumption rooms for a long time.
AIDS-help renewed this call. Those who pursue gay men or intravenous drug users, instead of providing prevention, are reaping increasing infection numbers: "We see this not only in Eastern Europe, but to a certain extent in Germany as well," explained AIDS-help.
Concerns about the Rise of the Right
Experts are concerned about the political development worldwide. "Where right-wing forces are gaining strength, we see that HIV infections are increasing - because risk groups are criminalized," said Spinner. This is evident, for example, in Eastern Europe, a focus of the conference.
Questions remained about the second Berlin patient's healing at the Berlin Charité. In this man, referred to as the "second Berlin patient," the HIV virus was no longer detectable after a stem cell transplant as part of a cancer treatment - although the donor did not have a complete, rare HIV immunity.
"It's about understanding this principle of healing in the context of new options to offer it to other patients," said Spinner. A stem cell transplant with its high risks is, however, only an option for patients with a life-threatening illness.
- At the World AIDS Conference in Munich, Christoph Spinner, the local congress president, highlighted the success in treating HIV with UNAIDS encouraging data.
- The Technical University Munich's infectious disease specialist at the Klinikum rechts der Isar emphasized the importance of networking among politics, science, and the community during the conference.
- Spinner pointed out that more financial pledges and efforts from countries are necessary to achieve the UN's goal of defeating HIV by 2030 and reducing new infections by 90%.
- According to the UN Programme UNAIDS, global financial resources for fighting HIV in low and middle-income countries have decreased, falling short of the required amount by 2025.
- Christoph Spinner expressed hope for a potentially game-changing medication that prevents HIV infection in 100% of young women and girls in southern Africa.
- To make this medication widely available and affordable, particularly in heavily affected regions, further engagement from political and financial sources is required, as urged by various parties.
- Spinner expressed concern about the withdrawal of recent medications in Germany, in particular for long-term patients who depend on reserve medications, emphasizing a need for political action.
- AIDS-help and activists have called for quick availability and affordability of the medication apparent for its preventative potential against HIV.
- The increasing infection numbers among heterosexuals and intravenous drug users in Germany indicate a need for room to breathe in prevention, such as the establishment of drug consumption rooms and integrated support services.
- The political development worldwide, with the rise of right-wing forces, is concerning for experts due to the correlation of increasing HIV infections in criminalized risk groups, as highlighted by Christoph Spinner.
