More than 70 countries told the World Health Organization they're at risk of running out of HIV drugs because of supply disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, CNBC reported.
Of those countries, 24 said they have a "critically low" supply of HIV medications in a survey conducted by the WHO.
"The findings of this survey are deeply concerning. Countries and their development partners must do all they can to ensure that people who need HIV treatment continue to access it. We cannot let the COVID-19 pandemic undo the hard-won gains in the global response to this disease," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, the WHO's director-general, told CNBC.
In May, the WHO and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS estimated that AID-related deaths could double in sub-Saharan Africa because of disruption of access to medications, CNBC reported.
The main causes of disruption in supply of HIV drugs were the closure of land and air transportation, failure of suppliers to deliver medication and limited access to health services.
More than 25 million people took HIV drugs in 2019, according to CNBC.
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