The Ministry of Health released this Thursday (11/30) an epidemiological bulletin on HIV in Brazil. One of the data that attracted the most attention is the proportion of people who have been diagnosed with the virus, but are not yet undergoing treatment.
The government estimates that 1 million Brazilians live with HIV and 90% of them are diagnosed. Of this total, 650,000 are male and 350,000 female. Only 81% of people diagnosed, however, are undergoing treatment that prevents the transmission of the virus and also the development of AIDS.
In other words, around 169 thousand people in the country are not taking treatment even though they know they have the virus. Antiretroviral treatment is fully distributed by the Unified Health System (SUS).
The bulletin shows that mortality from AIDS, the immunodeficiency caused by the untreated virus, fell 8.5% in the last 10 years. Still, in 2022, 10.9 thousand people died as a result of the disease in Brazil and 61.7% of deaths were among brown people (47%) and black people (14.7%) combined.
The majority of people diagnosed are gay men (around 18% of all men who have sex with men live with the virus), but, proportionally, it is among trans women that the disease is more prevalent: it is estimated that up to 36% of them have HIV.
The future of fighting HIV
The goal announced by the Ministry of Health is to have at least 95% in the next few years in all three main indicators: diagnoses, treatment of those diagnosed, and people in viral suppression among those treated.
Viral suppression is achieved approximately three months after starting drug treatment, when the virus becomes undetectable in tests and can no longer be transmitted. This is the only index in which Brazil has achieved the target so far.
By: Metropolises
