In a
research published on Thursday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that HIV
is a “significant” risk factor for severe COVID-19, citing data that showed an increase in
fatality rates among patients infected with both the virus that causes AIDS and
the coronavirus.

Over 37
million people are known to be infected with AIDS across the world, with the
virus having claimed more than 45 million lives since the disease broke out.

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Research conducted
previously have been unable to find a link between AIDS and a higher likelihood
of severe effects of COVID or even deaths, given that patients usually have other
complications, like high blood pressure or obesity, as well.

For the
latest research, experts analysed data from over 15,500 people living with HIV and
also infected with COVID-19, AFP reported. The average age of these patients was
45.5 years and over a third of them were exhibiting severe symptoms of COVID.

92% of them
had been administered anti-retroviral therapy before being hospitalised, and around
23% of patients for whom an outcome was recorded died in hospital.

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“HIV
appears to be a significant independent risk factor for severe or critical
illness at hospital admission and in-hospital mortality,” said authors of
the study, which was released during the 11th annual International AIDS Society
(IAS) Conference on HIV Science.

IAS
President Adeeba Kamarulzaman said the study results showed the importance of
prioritising people living with HIV in national COVID-19 vaccination
programmes.

“The
global community must do more to ensure immediate vaccine supply to countries
with high HIV disease prevalence,” said Kamarulzaman.

“It is
unacceptable that as of today, less than three percent of the entire African
continent has received a single dose of the vaccine, and less than 1.5 percent
have received both doses.”

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The United
Nations’ UNAIDS programme said on Wednesday that the pandemic had severely
disrupted HIV diagnosis and treatment services.

In some
regions of South Africa, HIV testing fell nearly 50% during the first lockdown
in April 2020 as more than 28,000 health workers were shifted from HIV
programmes to COVID-19 screening.

“Rich
countries in Europe are preparing to enjoy the summer as their populations have
easy access to COVID-19 vaccines, while the global South is in crisis,”
said Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS executive director.

“We
have failed to learn the lessons of HIV, when millions were denied life-saving
medicines and died because of inequalities in access. This is totally
unacceptable.”