UN Report Successes in the fight against HIV

Successful fight against HIV: fewer new HIV infections and deaths

07/19/2012

The commitment to fight HIV is bearing fruit. Worldwide, the number of new infections and deaths is declining. An increasing number of AIDS patients are receiving antiretroviral therapy in poorer countries. UNAIDS, the United Nations Joint Program on HIV / AIDS, reported in a recent report on the successes that could be achieved in the fight against the immunodeficiency syndrome, but at the same time warns that the commitment of the international community should not diminish.

According to the latest publication of the United Nations Program on HIV / AIDS (UNAIDS), around two and a half million people in 2011 became infected with HIV. Ten years, about one fifth more new diagnoses were made. A greater drop in the numbers was seen in the children. Here, the rate of new infections has fallen over the course of two years by almost 25 percent to around 330,000 new cases. On Wednesday, the chairman of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, said in Washington: „We can see rapid progress, but it is worrying that more than a third of new infections are young people between 15 and 24 years old“. Every day in 2011 about 2,400 people were infected with the dangerous AIDS virus, Sidibé said.

"It is clear that this is not the time to slow down our efforts in the fight against AIDS, but we should pause for a moment to reflect on the progress that has been made, to build on it, and to reach an AIDS-free generation“,Eric Goosby, US Global Aids Coordinator, commented on the launch of the latest UNAIDS report. According to UNAIDS, the development is quite promising. The number of new HIV infections is falling, deaths have also increased and access to AIDS drugs has been significantly improved.

3.4 million children live with HIV infection
Particularly in the case of new infections of children, according to UNAIDS, a gratifying development can be observed. Since 2009, the number of new HIV infections in children has fallen by an estimated 24 percent. In 2011, according to figures from the United Nations AIDS Program, 330,000 children were newly infected with HIV, nearly half of what it was at the height of the 2003 epidemic (570,000 new infections among children). However, Michel Sidibé, Managing Director of UNAIDS, commented at the presentation of the report ahead of the 19th International AIDS Conference in Washington that more than a third of new infections still affect young people between the ages of five and 24 years. In 2011, around 2,400 people of this age group became infected with HIV per day. According to UNAIDS, there are currently around 3.4 million HIV-infected children worldwide, around 90 percent of them in sub-Saharan Africa. About 230,000 children died in 2011 as a result of their AIDS disease.

2.5 million new HIV infections per year
Although an increase in new infections continued to be observed in individual countries, globally, new HIV infections have declined significantly in recent years, according to experts in the United Nations HIV / AIDS program. Overall, according to UNAIDS, around 2.5 million people worldwide were infected with HIV in 2011, which was about 100,000 fewer than in 2010 and about 20 percent less than 10 years earlier. An estimated 34.2 million people today live with HIV. However, 1.7 million people still died as a result of their AIDS disease in 2011. Although significantly lower than in 2005 (2.3 million AIDS-related deaths), the number of fatalities could be further reduced by providing all those in need with antiretroviral drugs, the UNAIDS experts said.

8 million people receive antiretroviral therapy
In 2011, around eight million HIV-infected people were receiving antiretroviral therapy, which was approximately 1.6 million (20 percent) more than in the previous year. In 2003, only 400,000 people had access to antiretroviral drugs. Also, the drugs cost so much that their use in poor countries was hardly conceivable. But now the cost of a therapy of about 8,000 euros per year has fallen to less than 80 euros. Expensive drugs have been replaced by cheap generics (equivalent copies of branded drugs) and access to therapies has improved significantly, especially in the most severely affected regions such as sub-Saharan Africa. However, according to UNAIDS, there is still room for improvement in antiretroviral therapy, because around half of all those in need of HIV today do not receive appropriate medication. Leveraging this potential, the United Nations' goal of providing access to treatment for more than 15 million people living with HIV by 2015 could well be achieved, said UNAIDS Director Michel Sidibé. In the foreword of the UNAIDS report „Together we will end AIDS“ UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon explains that „a decade of antiviral treatment for HIV death sentence to a manageable chronic disease“ be let. It exists „a real chance to eradicate new infections of children in the next three years“, Ban Ki Moon continues.

Many countries are doubling their investment in the fight against AIDS
According to UNAIDS, the successes so far have also been due to the efforts of the international community in the fight against AIDS, with countries with medium and low average incomes in particular having significantly increased their financial commitment in recent years. While „As international financing levels off, many countries are increasing their own share of investment in the fight against HIV“, According to the UNAIDS Communication (World AIDS Conference, July 22-27, in Washington, some 25,000 participants will discuss past successes and future approaches to the fight against AIDS.) (fp)

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Picture 1: Gerd Altmann
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