Efforts to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS are yielding progress – UN reportf
A Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic 2011, produced by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS shows there has been a significant decrease in infection rates and HIV-related deaths, as well as an increase in the number of people who have access to treatment.
The report, however, says that transformative efforts are needed to accelerate the progress of global efforts being made to prevent and treat the epidemic.
According to the report, HIV infections rates are at their lowest since the peak of the epidemic in 1997, with 2.7 million new infections in 2010, mainly due to changes in young people’s sexual behaviour, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Twenty-one high-prevalence countries reported declines in HIV occurrence among people aged 15 to 24 last year, as opposed to 16 countries in 2009.
The most pronounced falls happened in countries in sub-Saharan Africa such as Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Togo and Zimbabwe.
Behavioural changes which include the use of condoms, having fewer sexual partners, and young people waiting longer before becoming sexually active, are the main causes for progress in Africa, the report further states.
The region, however, continues to be the most heavily affected, with 68 per cent of people living with HIV residing in sub-Saharan Africa. The report also estimates 34 million people living with HIV worldwide, a 17 per cent increase from 2001.
Although the rise in this figure partly reflects new HIV infections, it is also a result of increased access to antiretroviral therapy, which has helped reduce AIDS-related deaths.
Presently, 6.6 million people in low- and middle-income countries have access to antiretroviral therapy. The report also estimates that a total of 2.5 million deaths have been averted in low and middle-income countries since 1995 due to antiretroviral therapy, with 700,000 AIDS-related deaths averted in 2010 alone.
Scientific breakthroughs have shown how people receiving treatment also become less infectious with time, decreasing the risk of infection for their partners and lowering the chances of transmission from mothers to newborns.
The report also maps a new framework for AIDS investments, which focuses on getting high impact and high-value strategies.
The framework is based on several elements, including focusing interventions for populations at higher risk such as sex workers and people who inject drugs; promoting behavioural change programmes; and increasing treatment and care for people living with HIV.
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