New Delhi: In some good news in the fight
against HIV, fresh data by the UNAIDS shows that new HIV
infections have been reduced by 17 per cent and the number of
people succumbing to the disease has decreased by 10 per cent.
According to new data in the 2009 AIDS epidemic
update, new HIV infections have been reduced by 17 per cent
over the past eight years.
Since 2001, the number of new infections in sub-Saharan
Africa is approximately 15 per cent lower, which is about
400,000 fewer infections in 2008.
In East Asia, new HIV infections declined by nearly 25
per cent and in South and South East Asia by 10 per cent in
the same time period.
In Eastern Europe, after a dramatic increase in new
infections among injecting drug users, the epidemic has
levelled off considerably. However, in some countries there
are signs that new HIV infections are rising again.
The report, released today by the Joint United Nations
Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health
Organisation (WHO), highlights that beyond the peak and
natural course of the epidemic, HIV prevention programmes are
making a difference.
Michel Sidibe, Executive Director of UNAIDS, said
"the good news is that we have evidence that the declines we
are seeing are due to, at least in part, HIV prevention".
The number of AIDS-related deaths has declined by over
10 per cent over the past five years as more people gained
access to the life saving treatment.
PTI
