UNAIDS: Anti-LGBTQ laws in Africa could prompt spike in HIV cases
The U.N body on the HIV pandemic has raised concerns over a spike in the disease among gay and transgender people in eastern and southern Africa due to harsh anti-homosexuality laws.
The UNAIDS in its latest 2023 Global AIDS Update reportreleased last month notes laws criminalizing consensual same-sex relations have remained a major obstacle in preventing and treating HIV among the LGBTQ community.
These statutes have been enacted in the region the disease has impacted the most and in a part of Africa that has seen significant progress in reducing the number of new HIV infections.
New HIV infections have dropped by 57 percent and AIDS-related deaths have decreased by 58 percent among heterosexual people since 2010. “HIV incidence has reduced substantially by 73 percent since 2010 among adult men aged 15–49 years, but it is not declining among gay men and other men who have sex with men,” reads the 196-page UNAIDS report.
