Wednesday, November 23, 2011

AIDS Stabilizing Worldwide

New HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths globally are falling to the lowest levels since the peak of the epidemic, U.N. officials in Switzerland said. Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, said a report by Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, said new HIV infections have been reduced by 21% since 1997, and deaths from AIDS-related illnesses have decreased by 21% since 2005. UNAIDS and World Health Organization estimates said 6.6 million, or 47% of the estimated 14.2 million people eligible for treatment in low- and middle-income countries, had access to lifesaving anti-retroviral therapy in 2010, an increase of 1.35 million since 2009. The report highlights that there are early signs that HIV treatment is having a significant impact on reducing the number of new HIV infections. The report said that at the end of 2010:

  • An estimated 34 million people lived with HIV globally.
  • An estimated 2.7 million new HIV infections were diagnosed.
  • An estimated 1.8 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses.
  • Treatment averted 2.5 million deaths since 1995.