Towards World AIDS Day 2008 on December 1st, there are a few pieces of good news but nothing that suggests that we can begin to relax our efforts to curb the spread of HIV or treat the patients, their families and their communities. There are today, after all, five people being infected with HIV every minute.
A look at the statistics shows us that the number of new infections has stabilized. They are still catastrophically high, with an estimated 2.7 million new cases each year around the globe, but this is down from annual figures of 3 million, at the peak earlier in the decade.
Because anti-retroviral therapy is becoming more widespread and new infections keep occurring, there are now more people living with HIV than ever before. Today, there are ten times more people receiving anti-retroviral drugs than there were just 6 years ago.
In 2007, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS was estimated at 33 million, two thirds of them in sub-Saharan Africa, but yet even in this ravaged region, the rates of new infections have stabilized and in many African countries, even started to decline.
Outside of Africa, the epidemic has not necessarily turned around. In many developing areas, the HIV figures are on the rise, notably in Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam.
There are now just over 2 million AIDS deaths each year, which is down from the peak in 2005. This would bring the total number of people living with HIV/ AIDS at the end of 2008 to around 34 million. This includes a higher number of AIDS orphans than ever before. In sub-Saharan Africa, there are more than 12 million such orphans, children who will need a great deal of help to get an education and break out of an intense cycle of poverty and risk.
So who are the faces of AIDS in 2008? In sub-Saharan Africa, HIV is mostly being spread by heterosexual sex. That naturally leaves women at greater risk, and means that it is the only region in which women account for more than 50% of all people living with HIV/AIDS. Outside of Africa, HIV is still affecting a disproportionate number of drug users, sex workers and men who have sex with men. In the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, men having sex with men is the leading method of HIV transmission.
An interesting trend that is emerging in the last few years is the delay in the age of first sexual intercourse, at least in low- and middle-income countries. The amount of teens having sex before age 15 has decreased, however the drop is greater for boys than for girls.
Another of the recent successes in HIV prevention has occurred in mother-to-child transmission. This form of contracting HIV has come down significantly in the past years, meaning there are ever smaller numbers of babies being born and developing HIV from exposure to their mothers. There are currently above half a million HIV-positive pregnant women receiving anti-retroviral treatment to protect their babies. This is simply a success that costs in resources and effort, but pays off pricelessly.
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Related: Update on the HIV/AIDS Epidemic 2007
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