HIV Infections Dropped 25 Percent in Last Decade
But the health gains are unevenly distributed and fall short of international targets.
| Posted Friday, June 3, 2011, at 1:30 PM ET
The latest United Nations report on HIV and AIDS brings with it good news and bad.
The good: HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths decreased by nearly 25 percent between 2001 and 2009 due to more access to treatment, prevention services, and care.
The bad: Not everyone is benefitting from these improvements. The report revealed that between 2008 and 2010, HIV among sex workers and gay men actually increased, and about 20 percent of people who inject drugs have HIV, reports the Washington Post.
Improvements also vary by geographical region. Latin America, the Caribbean, and Pacific Ocean nations experienced above average declines, while sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia saw more modest reductions. Meanwhile, infection rates in East Asia, Western and Central Europe, and North America remained stagnant.
Central Asia and Eastern Europe, which had seen a decline early in the decade, saw that trend reverse between 2005 and 2009 as rates increased. And as if they did not already have enough to worry about, infection rates in the Middle East and North Africa continue to climb upward.
“People in rich countries don’t die from AIDS any more, but those in poor countries still do – and that’s just not acceptable,” Bill Clinton wrote in the report.
This UNAIDS report was released in advance of Sunday’s 30th anniversary of the first official report of what later became the HIV epidemic by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More on the anniversary here.
