HIV infections decline worldwide

UNAIDS report shows significant decline in HIV new infections

11/21/2011

The intensive efforts in the fight against the immunodeficiency disease AIDS seem to bear fruit first. The number of new HIV infections has declined significantly in recent years, according to the statement in the Report of the HIV / AIDS Program of the United Nations (UNAIDS), which was presented on Monday in Berlin..

According to UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Program on HIV / AIDS), between 1997 and 2010, the number of new HIV infections worldwide dropped by about one fifth (21 percent). While there are still 2.67 million people infected with the AIDS pathogens each year, the number of new infections has been significantly reduced thanks to political will and adequate financial resources. However, this is far from true for all regions of the world. For example, Eastern Europe and Central Asia are a sad exception for the development of HIV infection. Here, the number of infected persons has increased by about 250 percent since 2001, reports UNAIDS.

70 percent of new HIV infections in Africa
According to the United Nations HIV / AIDS report, around 34 million people worldwide currently suffer from AIDS, an increase of almost 5.5 million infections compared to 2001 (28.6 million). However, the number of new infections has declined noticeably in recent years, according to the experts. Of those affected, about 68 percent (22.9 million) are the overwhelming majority living in sub-Saharan Africa. Here, 70 percent of new HIV infections are recorded, although actually only 12 percent of the world's population in the region have their home. The figures clearly show the disproportionate concern of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa. For example, an estimated 5.6 million people are living more HIV-infected people in South Africa than in any other country worldwide. However, in the course of the intensive efforts to combat the immune deficiency disease, initial successes are also showing. The number of new infections has fallen significantly in South Africa, as well as in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe, in recent years, reports UNAIDS.

The number of HIV infections in Eastern Europe and Central Asia has risen massively
According to the UNAIDS report, the development of HIV infections in Western and Central Europe tends to be negligible in relation to the global problem, with 30,000 people still becoming infected with HIV each year and around 9,900 people dying of AIDS each year , Of particular concern, however, is the trend in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where the number of people living with HIV increased by 250 per cent between 2001 and 2010, to currently 1.5 million. According to UNAIDS, about 90 percent of the infections are attributable to Russia and the Ukraine, whereby contaminated drugsticks are the primary cause of the rapid spread. An estimated 90,000 people die of AIDS each year in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, compared to 7,800 AIDS deaths in 2001, UNAIDS said.

1.8 million deaths worldwide from AIDS
Altogether, according to the UNAIDS report, around 1.8 million people died of AIDS in the past year, although the use of medicines is said to have prevented an estimated 700,000 more deaths. According to UNAIDS projections, around 2.5 million AIDS deaths have been prevented since 1995 with the help of medicines in low- and middle-income countries. Meanwhile, in the so-called developing countries, about half of those infected with HIV have access to appropriate therapies, whereby the accessibility of the drugs has been significantly improved in the last two years. UNAIDS names countries such as Cambodia, Chile, Croatia and Cuba as positive examples of a good care for those infected with HIV. But there are still countries like Afghanistan, Egypt, Tunisia or the Ukraine where those affected hardly have access to the necessary medicines.

Medications can prevent transmission of AIDS during pregnancy
The UNAIDS report also mentions the significantly improved prevention of transmission of the immunodeficiency syndrome to unborn children during pregnancy as a major success in the fight against HIV or AIDS. For example, around half of pregnant women living with HIV today are treated with medications designed to prevent transmission of the virus to the child. The success of this treatment, according to UNAIDS, can be seen in the example of Botswana, where in 2003, 21 percent of babies in infected mothers were infected with HIV at birth. Since more than 90 percent of HIV-infected mothers in Botswana today receive antiviral therapy, the share of affected newborns in 2010 was only four percent, according to UNAIDS experts. In general, the number of new HIV infections among children worldwide has declined significantly - from 550,000 in 2001 to 390,000 in 2010. According to the UNAIDS report, the trend in the deaths of children under the age of 15 is correspondingly positive. Here, the number of AIDS-related deaths between 2005 and 2010 has fallen by about 20 percent. However, even today the therapeutic treatment of HIV-infected pregnant women is about 80 percent not optimal, said the UNAIDS experts. If such adjustments were made here, the number of affected newborns could be reduced by 20 percent in the short term, according to the statement in the current report.

2,700 HIV infections in Germany per year
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has also presented on Monday in Berlin, the latest figures on HIV infections and AIDS diseases in Germany: Accordingly, the number of those affected in this country is currently at about 73,000, with the „Number since the mid-1990s is increasing, as the number of new infections is higher than the number of deaths.“ The RKI estimates around 500 AIDS-related deaths in 2011. The most frequently affected by HIV infection in Germany, according to the RKI „still men who have sex with men.“ About 45,000 of the HIV-infected or AIDS sufferers are assigned to this group, reports the RKI. The number of new infections estimated the RKI experts for 2011 at about 2,700, with 2,250 men and 450 women are affected. According to RKI President Reinhard Burger, one of the main reasons for the decline in new infections „the intensified prevention and increasingly early diagnosis and treatment of people living with HIV, who are then less infectious to their sexual partners.“Nevertheless, an HIV infection remains „still not curable, even if it is usually treatable with medication“, the RKI president warned. This also applies to Germany, which is emphasized again and again: education and prevention are the best protection against HIV. On a global scale, strengthening women's rights plays a key role in the fight against the incurable disease, according to UNAIDS. The prospect of the timely development of a promising vaccine is, according to the experts, despite intensive research still not in sight. (Fp)

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Image: Gerd Altmann, Pixelio.de