WHO motto for WAD 2014 is:" Closing the gap in HIV prevention and treatment." Closing the gaps means empowering and enabling all people, everywhere to access the services they need. According to the latest UNAIDS report released on 16 July 2014; 19 million of the 35 million people living with HIV globally do not know their HIV-positive status. The report highlights that efforts to increase access to life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART) are working. In 2013, an additional 2.3 million people gained access to the life-saving medicines. This brings the global number of people accessing ART to nearly 13 million by the end of 2013. Research shows that in sub-Saharan Africa, 76% of people on ART have achieved viral suppression, whereby they are unlikely to transmit the virus to their sexual partners. New data analysis demonstrates that for every 10% increase in treatment coverage there is a 1% decline in the percentage of new infections among people living with HIV. UNAIDS gap report emphasizes the importance of location and population through an in-depth regional analysis of HIV epidemics and through analysis of 12 populations at higher risk of HIV. It analyses the reasons for the widening gap between people gaining access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, and people being left behind. The percentage of people living with HIV who were receiving treatment was found to be highest in Western Europe and North America, at 51% [39–60%], and in Latin America, at 45% [33–51%]. However, coverage was lowest in the Middle East and North Africa, at just 11% [8–16%].

New HIV infections declined most in the Caribbean—by 40% since 2005; however, new HIV infections have risen by 7% in the Middle East and North Africa and by 5% in Eastern Europe and central Asia since 2005.

AIDS-related deaths were seen to be rising steeply in the Middle East and North Africa, by 66%. The only other region where AIDS-related deaths are increasing is Eastern Europe and central Asia, where AIDS-related deaths rose by 5% between 2005 and 2013.

The report outlines that to close the gap between people who are reached with HIV services and people who are not will require research and innovation combined with protective laws that promote freedom and equality for all people. It will also require increased commitment from the global community and countries most affected to the remarkable returns on investment that have been witnessed over the last 10 years to continue so that the end of the AIDS epidemic can be achieved by 2030.

According to Iranian Ministry of Health HIV/AIDS statistics; until the 23rd September 2014, the total number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Iran was estimated 28663 while men accounted for 88.4% of HIV/AIDS infections. 45.7% of HIV infections were among persons aged 25-34 and about 67.2% of those infected with the virus were injecting-drug users who shared needle or drug equipment with HIV-infected persons. Although injecting-drug users (with sharing contaminated needles, syringes and other injecting equipment and drug solutions when injecting drugs) comprise an estimated 45.5% of newly infected ones in 2013.

On World AIDS Day 2014, WHO will release new guidelines on providing ARTs as emergency prevention following HIV exposure, and on the use of the antibiotic co-trimoxazole to prevent HIV-related infections.

Dr. Shima Naghavi, Director of International Affairs