Climate change impeding fight against AIDS, TB and malaria

LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Climate change and conflict are hurting efforts to fight three of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, the executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria warns. did.

Global efforts to fight the disease have largely recovered after being severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the foundation’s 2023 performance report released on Monday.

But the growing challenges of climate change and conflict mean the world is unlikely to reach its goal of eliminating AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria by 2030 unless it takes “extraordinary measures”, it said. said Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund.

For example, malaria has spread to highland regions of Africa that were previously too cold for mosquitoes carrying the parasites that cause the disease.

Floods and other extreme weather events have overwhelmed health services, disrupted communities, caused spikes in infections and disrupted treatment in many places, according to the report. He added that in countries such as Sudan, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Myanmar, deteriorating security conditions make it extremely difficult to reach vulnerable communities.

Sands said there are positives as well. For example, in 2022, 6.7 million people were treated for tuberculosis in the countries in which the Global Fund invests, an increase of 1.4 million compared to the previous year. The fund also provided antiretroviral treatment for HIV to 24.5 million people and distributed 220 million bed nets.

Sands added that innovative prevention and diagnostic tools also offer hope.

A high-level meeting on tuberculosis will be held at the United Nations General Assembly this week, and advocates hope there will be more focus on the disease.

The Global Fund has faced criticism from some TB experts for not allocating more funding to the disease, as it is the biggest killer of the three diseases it focuses on. facing.

“There is no question that the world needs to devote more resources to the fight against tuberculosis… but it is not as simple as comparing the annual number of deaths from each disease,” Sands said. . For example, many of the countries with the highest burden of tuberculosis are middle-income countries that have the capacity to finance health services domestically, he said.

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