UN reports relevant decrease in HIV cases
The number of HIV cases around the world has decreased in 2009, while the general situation of the epidemics seem to slow down, according to a UN report.
Findings show that new cases of infection have decreased to almost 20 per cent over the last 10 years, while HIV-related deaths have decreased to 20 per cent since 2004.
The annual study, issued by the Joint United Nation Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), records an estimated 33.3 million as the total number of people affected by the virus in 2009. This figure has been calculated between both adults and children.
Between 2001 and 2009, 56 countries, who were among the worst affected by the virus, have managed to stabilise or diminish the rates of new infection cases by more than 25 per cent. This result is particularly positive considering that 34 of these are in the Sub-Saharan African region – by far the most hit by HIV and AIDS.
Of the five countries with the largest epidemics in the region, four states – Ethiopia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe – have reduced rates of new HIV infections by more than 25 per cent. Nigeria has seen its epidemic stabilised.
“Investments in the AIDS response are paying off, but gains are fragile – the challenge now is how we can all work to accelerate progress,” said UNAIDS executive director Michael Sidibe.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the UNAIDS report shows that 22.5 million people are currently living with HIV. The new infection rate – people affected by HIV in 2009 – is, again, the highest figure recorded with 1.8 million people – on a total figure of 2.6 million new people affected.
The region is also the only one with a number of deaths due to HIV that is still above one million people – with 1.3 million deaths recorded in 2009.
The first epidemic of HIV took place in the 1980s. Since then, 60 million people have been affected, and 30 million have died of HIV-related causes.
In 2009, there were 7,000 new infection cases recorded every day among the world population. The report highlights how, among the newly affected, the overall majority (97 per cent) lives in “low or middle income countries”. Alarmingly, 1,000 of the new cases are within children.
In 2009, AIDs deaths in the world have been calculated at 1.8 million people – 260,000 of whom are children under 15 years of age.
There are also some encouraging results on the front of HIV research, released on the same day as the UNAIDS report.
US researchers managed to reduce the risk of infection in gays and bisexual men to almost 44 per cent, thanks to a once-a-day pill.
The pill, containing Gilead's drugs tenofovir and emtricitabine, was tested on almost 2,500 gay and bisexuals at high risk of infection. Results showed that people who constantly took the drug had a 73 per cent lower risk of infection than those taking the dummy pill.
"This means that the daily use of [the pill] reduced the risk of HIV acquisition by 43.8 percent," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the institute that funded the study.
He explained that one of the difficulties in studying these kinds of drugs is that people often forget to take them. To go around this problem, researchers took blood samples from the people testing the drugs on a regular basis.
Researchers said this study is the first of its kind that shows that taking drugs before infection can actually reduce the risk of transmission.
"Every year 2.7 million people are infected with HIV. [This drug] has the potential to help bring those numbers down. We have a moral obligation and a public health imperative to quickly act on these results," said Mitchell Warren, executive director of the HIV advocacy group AVAC.
(Read the full article on The Fresh Outlook)
23.11.2010
Findings show that new cases of infection have decreased to almost 20 per cent over the last 10 years, while HIV-related deaths have decreased to 20 per cent since 2004.
The annual study, issued by the Joint United Nation Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), records an estimated 33.3 million as the total number of people affected by the virus in 2009. This figure has been calculated between both adults and children.
Between 2001 and 2009, 56 countries, who were among the worst affected by the virus, have managed to stabilise or diminish the rates of new infection cases by more than 25 per cent. This result is particularly positive considering that 34 of these are in the Sub-Saharan African region – by far the most hit by HIV and AIDS.
Of the five countries with the largest epidemics in the region, four states – Ethiopia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe – have reduced rates of new HIV infections by more than 25 per cent. Nigeria has seen its epidemic stabilised.
“Investments in the AIDS response are paying off, but gains are fragile – the challenge now is how we can all work to accelerate progress,” said UNAIDS executive director Michael Sidibe.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the UNAIDS report shows that 22.5 million people are currently living with HIV. The new infection rate – people affected by HIV in 2009 – is, again, the highest figure recorded with 1.8 million people – on a total figure of 2.6 million new people affected.
The region is also the only one with a number of deaths due to HIV that is still above one million people – with 1.3 million deaths recorded in 2009.
The first epidemic of HIV took place in the 1980s. Since then, 60 million people have been affected, and 30 million have died of HIV-related causes.
In 2009, there were 7,000 new infection cases recorded every day among the world population. The report highlights how, among the newly affected, the overall majority (97 per cent) lives in “low or middle income countries”. Alarmingly, 1,000 of the new cases are within children.
In 2009, AIDs deaths in the world have been calculated at 1.8 million people – 260,000 of whom are children under 15 years of age.
There are also some encouraging results on the front of HIV research, released on the same day as the UNAIDS report.
US researchers managed to reduce the risk of infection in gays and bisexual men to almost 44 per cent, thanks to a once-a-day pill.
The pill, containing Gilead's drugs tenofovir and emtricitabine, was tested on almost 2,500 gay and bisexuals at high risk of infection. Results showed that people who constantly took the drug had a 73 per cent lower risk of infection than those taking the dummy pill.
"This means that the daily use of [the pill] reduced the risk of HIV acquisition by 43.8 percent," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the institute that funded the study.
He explained that one of the difficulties in studying these kinds of drugs is that people often forget to take them. To go around this problem, researchers took blood samples from the people testing the drugs on a regular basis.
Researchers said this study is the first of its kind that shows that taking drugs before infection can actually reduce the risk of transmission.
"Every year 2.7 million people are infected with HIV. [This drug] has the potential to help bring those numbers down. We have a moral obligation and a public health imperative to quickly act on these results," said Mitchell Warren, executive director of the HIV advocacy group AVAC.
(Read the full article on The Fresh Outlook)
23.11.2010