According to a report released by the Global Fund on Wednesday, the COVID-19 pandemic had a calamitous impact on the nation’s fight against HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria in 2020.
“To mark our 20th anniversary, we had hoped to focus this year’s report on the extraordinary stories of courage and resilience that made possible the progress we have achieved against HIV, TB and malaria over the last two decades,” said Peter Sands, the Global Fund’s executive director.
He further added that there have been significant declines in HIV testing and prevention services. In comparison to the year 2019, the number of people who received HIV prevention and treatment dropped by 11 per cent in the previous year and HIV testing dropped by 22 per cent.
The report claimed that the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the fight against TB worldwide had been similarly catastrophic. With 37,875 fresh infections in the past 24 hours, there is fear how the authorities will manage the fight against different diseases in a pandemic.
While the testing capacity has been enhanced across the nation, the recovery rate for coronavirus is at 97.48 percent accounted for 39,114 recuperations in the last 24 hours taking the total recoveries to 3,22,64,051. The daily positivity rate stood at 2.16 per cent, less than 5 per cent.
The active caseload stands at 3,91,256 accounting for 1.18 per cent of the total number of cases. 1,608 active cases were reported in the last 24 hours. However, the mortality rate recorded at 1.33 per cent reported 369 fatalities, taking the cumulative death toll to 4,41,411.
While it continues its fight against coronavirus, interventions to combat malaria appear to have been less badly affected by it. This is mainly attributed to the adaptation measures, diligence, and innovation of health workers and community. For instance, the number of mosquito nets distributed increased by 17 percent.
The Global Fund was set up in 2002, saving 44 million lives. In 2020, it disbursed $4.2 billion to continue its fight against TB, HIV and malaria.
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