NEWS ANALYSIS: Ethiopia’s HIV infection rate drops by six-fold past two decades amid call for robust sensitization

By Elias Gebreselassie

ADDIS ABABA: November 7 (EI) – HIV/AIDS infection rate has registered a six-fold decrease over the past two-decades period in Ethiopia, despite robust sensitization efforts that are needed to further contend the spread of the virus.

Speaking exclusively to the Ethiopian Informer, Daniel Betre, HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office (HAPCO) Public Relations Director, said Ethiopia has reduced the HIV/AIDS infection rate from more than 6 percent in the 1990s to around 0.93 percent currently.

“There was a deep commitment from federal and local government officials, relevant stakeholders, civil society organizations and international partners that brought about this remarkable decline,” Daniel said.

According to figures from HAPCO, some 610,335 Ethiopians are currently infected with the HIV/AIDS diseases, of which close to 470,000 people are on Antiretroviral Therapy (ART).

“Those who are on ART drugs have around 90 percent chance of preventing the HIV/AIDS transmission to their sexual partners” Betre told Ethiopian Informer.

While Ethiopia’s HIV/AIDS infection rate is below the UN World Health Organization (WHO) criteria of one percent national infection rate to deem the disease a pandemic, Betre also stressed that Ethiopia “is not being complacent in its recent success.”

Figures, however, show that the HIV/AIDS infection rate in urban areas across Ethiopia currently stands at around three percent, which is well above the WHO pandemic threshold.

Data from HAPCO also indicates that the rate of HIV/AIDS infection among commercial sex workers is about 23 percent, while long distance vehicle drivers and business-people are also said to have higher HIV/AIDS infection rates – 4.5 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

“There are also an estimated 13,000 new HIV/AIDS infections in Ethiopia annually, while we have noticed there is an increasing tendency to engage in unsafe sex practices among the youth and the adolescent populations. These realities also push us to further continue our fight against the virus without rest,” Betre stressed.

The Ethiopian government, in partnership with local and international organizations, is currently engaged in mass sensitization campaigns targeting high schools and tertiary educational institutions to protect the country’s burgeoning youth population from the scourge of HIV/AIDS infection, it was noted.

According to WHO, Africa is “the most affected region by HIV/AIDS in the world, particularly among the continent’s young women.”

Data from WHO show that new HIV infections for the East and Southern Africa Region were 800,000 in 2017, registering a 30 percent decrease since 2010, while new HIV infections for West and Central Africa were 370.000, a 8 percent decrease since 2010.

People living with HIV 19.6 million people were living with HIV in the Eastern and Southern Africa Region in 2017, among them 1,100,000 were adolescents, including 650,000 adolescent girls.

On December 1, the global community marks the annual World AIDS Day, which has been commemorated since 1988 worldwide. This year’s edition of the World AIDS Day will be marked under the theme “Communities Make the Difference.”

According to the UNAIDS, the commemoration of World AIDS Day is “an important opportunity to recognize the essential role that communities have played and continue to play in the AIDS response at the international, national and local levels.”