'Deeply concerned' about impact of Covid-19 on global response to HIV: WHO

He stated that progress in reducing AIDS-related deaths can be "accelerated by stepping up efforts to tackle comorbidities and opportunistic infections including TB, Hepatitis and Covid-19"

World Health Organisation (WHO) is deeply concerned about the impact of Covid-19 on the global response to HIV, its Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said.

"A new WHO survey showed access to HIV medicines has been significantly curtailed as a result of the pandemic. 73 countries have reported that they are at risk of stock-outs of antiretroviral medicines (ARVs)," the UN Health Body Chief said.

"To mitigate the impact of the pandemic on treatment access, WHO recommended that all countries prescribe ARVs for longer periods of time - up to six months while shoring up the supply chain