June 2021 marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of the first reported cases of AIDS in the US. A session at BIO Digital – featuring Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of NIAID at the NIH – will focus on four decades of innovation as well as the critical importance of collaboration and investment moving forward.
June 2021 marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of the first reported cases of AIDS in the US. A session at BIO Digital – featuring Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of NIAID at the NIH – will focus on four decades of innovation as well as the critical importance of collaboration and investment moving forward.
On June 5, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report described 5 cases of
The UN wants to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. But a key set of global 2020 targets to tackle HIV/AIDS were
‘missed by a long way’: and the COVID-19 pandemic has added a new set of complex challenges to efforts.
What is already known about this topic?
HIV viral load monitoring is recommended to assess antiretroviral treatment success; however, low- and middle-income countries face financial, operational, and country-specific challenges that must be overcome to adequately scale up viral load monitoring for all HIV-positive persons.
What is added by this report?
Sub-Saharan African countries have overcome challenges to initiate and scale up HIV viral load testing to monitor patients receiving ART. By 2018, seven of eight assessed countries reported viral load suppression rates of ≥85%. Logistical problems remain in several countries.
What are the implications for public health practice?
Viral load testing in low- and middle-income countries enables monitoring of viral load suppression at the individual and population level, which is necessary to achieve global epidemic control.
WFP Tunisia Country Brief, April 2021
Format
In April 2021
WFP launched the “Last Mile Ecosystem” app in the central kitchen of Henchir Jedid, in Nadhour (Zaghouan). This state-of-the-art digital solution ensures that food is purchased locally from small-scale farmers, supporting local agri-food production and economies, while promoting a diverse and nutritious diet for school children.
Operational Updates
• Within the framework of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV (UNAIDS), WFP conducted a food security and nutrition assessment of People Living with HIV (PLHIV). The results show that food insecurity among PLHIV is very high and the nutritional quality of meals is low. More than half of the surveyed households resorted to food of lower quality, reducing the portion size per meal and the number of meals per day. WFP will work with the government and its partners to provide adequate nutritional counselling to PLHIV.