HIV / AIDS According to the 2007 WHO/UNAIDS

HIV / AIDS

According to the 2007 WHO/UNAIDS estimates, at the end of 2007, 33.2 million people were living with HIV. Some 2,5 million people became newly infected that year and 2.1 million died of AIDS, which maintains AIDS as a leading cause of death in Africa.

More than 95% of HIV infections are in developing countries, two-thirds of them in sub-Saharan Africa, where over 28 million people are living with HIV. While infection rates are lower in Asia and the Pacific, where over 7 million are infected, there is a risk that localized epidemics involving mainly high-risk groups could spark off major epidemics in some of the world’s most populous countries.

The disease is having a major impact on social and economic development. Poverty is increasing in many countries as households lose one or more breadwinners to AIDS. And both public services and private companies are reeling from the impact of HIV-related sickness and deaths among their workforce.

In June 2001, the United Nations General Assembly declared HIV/AIDS to be “a global emergency.” Member States agreed to meet new targets for HIV prevention and care. These included a 25% reduction in infection rates among 15–24 year olds in the worst-affected countries by 2005 (and globally by 2010) and a 20% reduction in the number of infants infected with HIV by 2005 (and by 50% by 2010). UNAIDS and co-sponsors/partners have urged countries to implement a comprehensive package of strategies for prevention and care, including:

• access to affordable condoms
• prompt treatment of other sexually transmitted infections (which increase the risk of infection with HIV)
• access to voluntary HIV testing and counselling
• prevention of mother-to-child transmission
• promotion of advice and support to reduce HIV infection among intravenous drug users
• sexual health education in schools and the community
  
• improved access to care, support and treatment, including sustainable access to affordable supplies of medicines and diagnostics.

While effective HIV care and prevention strategies, together with strong political commitment, have helped reverse the tide of HIV in some countries – notably Senegal, Thailand and Uganda – a vaccine is also needed to complement existing strategies.