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.
