PHA-Exch> REVISED UN ESTIMATES SHOW OVER 33 MILLION PEOPLE WORLDWIDE LIVING WITH HIV

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Vern Weitzel <vern at coombs.anu.edu.au>
crossposted from: "[health-vn discussion group]" <health-vn at cairo.anu.edu.au
>

A new report released today by two United Nations agencies puts the number
of
people living with HIV at about 33.2 million, down from last year's estimate
of
39.5 million, attributing the decrease to more accurate data collection and
analysis.

The new data show global HIV prevalence, or the percentage of people living
with
HIV, has levelled off and that the number of new infections has also fallen,
thanks in part to global HIV programmes. In addition to the 33.2 million
people
estimated to be living with HIV in 2007, 2.5 million people have become
newly
infected and 2.1 million people have died of AIDS.

The findings were presented by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS
(<"http://www.unaids.org/en/">UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization
(<"http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2007/pr61/en/index.html">WHO)
in
their report,
<i><"http://data.unaids.org/pub/EPISlides/2007/2007_epiupdate_en.pdf">2007
AIDS
Epidemic Update</i>.

The findings also show that AIDS is among the leading causes of death
globally
and remains the primary cause of death in Africa.

According to the data, there were an estimated 1.7 million new HIV
infections in
sub-Saharan Africa in 2007.  While that represents a significant decrease
from
2001, the region remains the most severely affected.

The report shows that an estimated 22.5 million people living with HIV – or
68
per cent of the global total – are in sub-Saharan Africa. Eight countries in
this region now account for almost one-third of all new HIV infections and
AIDS
deaths globally.

 The revised estimates for India, combined with important revisions of
estimates in five sub-Saharan African countries (Angola, Kenya, Mozambique,
Nigeria, and Zimbabwe) account for 70 per cent of the reduction in HIV
prevalence as compared to last year.

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) agreed, stating in a press release that the
new
numbers show that investments in prevention programmes are clearly working.

"Young people, when provided with accurate and comprehensive information,
education and services postpone sexual debut, reduce the number of sex
partners,
and ensure the use of condoms."
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://phm.phmovement.org/pipermail/phm-exchange-phmovement.org/attachments/20071126/4254ab2d/attachment-0001.html>