(557) The Forgotten Populations: HIV Global Mortality Comparison Exposes Cracks in Global Response

Introduction: Since the first case of AIDS was reported back in 1981, HIV continues to have a disproportionate impact on populations in different parts of the world. We tend to explore whether global efforts have successfully reduced HIV-associated mortality across all major regions of the world from 2001-2021.

Methods: Global Mortality data from 2001-2021 was extracted from the UNAIDS’ fact sheet titled “HIV estimates with uncertainty bounds 1990-Present.” Our data was limited because mortality reported by UNAIDS is an estimate because exact mortality data could not be gathered accurately in every region.

Results: Global mortality data of HIV over 21 years across world regions from 2001 to 2021 was compared. These regions include Eastern Europe & Central Asia, Latin America, Middle East & North America, Western & Central Europe and North America, Asia & the Pacific, Eastern & Southern Africa, Western and Central Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Global mortality associated with HIV (2001: 1,800,000, 2011:1, 200,000,2021:660,000) increased till 2003 and then followed a downward trend from 2005 to 2021. This represents a 63.3% decrease over the period observed. All regions followed similar trend apart from “Eastern Europe & Central Asia” region, which deviated from the general downward trend. Eastern Europe and Central Asia (2001: 19,000, 2011:35,000,2021:44,000) showed 131.579% increase in HIV-associated deaths over 21 years. We performed One-Way Repeated Measures ANOVA for different world regions by computing N, ∑X, Mean, ∑X2, and Std.Dev. We obtained between-treatments & Within-treatments SS, MS, and df. The f-ratio value was 146.43336, & p-value = < .00001, signifying that one region, i.e., Eastern Europe and Central Asia, had a disproportional rise in mortality.

Conclusions: A concerning rise in HIV-related mortality is identified in Eastern Europe & Central Asia, where incidence is also on rise, making it an epidemic region. The reasons for rising cases have been attributed to unsafe injection practices, unprotected sexual practices, and inadequate prevention strategies and treatment options. Recent war and refugee crisis in Eastern Europe has further worsened the situation. Efforts need to be enhanced and focused in “Eastern Europe and Central Asia” to bring global HIV mortality under control.