- Title: CHINA: UNAIDS and WHO launch report on worldwide AIDS epidemic
- Date: 25th November 2009
- Summary: PHAYAO, THAILAND (NOVEMBER 28, 2007) (REUTERS) DOK KHAM TAI HOSPITAL PATIENTS WAITING FOR THEIR TURN DOCTOR USING STETHOSCOPE TO CHECK HIV/AIDS PATIENT MAN COUGHING WOMAN PATIENT BEING EXAMINED WOMAN TALKING TO DOCTOR PATIENTS WAITING IN THE ROOM WOMAN TALKING TO DOCTOR BOTTLES OF HIV/AIDS DRUG STAVIR PHARMACIST PREPARING HIV/AIDS DRUG DOSAGE FOR PATIENTS BOTTL
- Embargoed: 10th December 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: China
- Country: China
- Topics: International Relations,Health
- Reuters ID: LVABBY1J7H6585JRLCWJ06EFF0GE
- Story Text: An estimated 33.4 million people worldwide are infected with the AIDS virus, according to a report issued on Tuesday (November 24) in Shanghai by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
That figure is up from 33 million in 2007. However, the report said more people were living longer due to the availability of HIV drugs.
"In terms of death, which is very important, worldwide we are seeing a drop of numbers of new deaths, which is critical. During the last five years only, the fact that we have been able, with the support of different programmes, to scale up treatment programmes, which has been increased by tenfold during the last five years… We are seeing a decrease in mortality by 18 percent," said UNAIDS executive director, Michel Sidibe.
In sub-Saharan Africa, where the scourge of AIDS is most keenly felt, there were 400,000 fewer infections in 2008, or down 15 percent compared to 2001.
New HIV infections declined by nearly 25 percent in East Asia and 10 percent in south and southeast Asia within the same time frame.
The data were contained in the 2009 AIDS epidemic update, which revealed that HIV was a significant factor in the deaths of women during childbirth.
Using South African data, about 50,000 maternal deaths were associated with HIV in 2008.
The report said the face of the AIDS epidemic was changing and that prevention efforts were not keeping pace with the shift.
HIV transmission in Asia in the past was mainly through prostitution and injecting drugs, but now, it is increasingly affecting heterosexual couples.
"A few years ago, we were focusing on drug users, that was the main entry point of the epidemic. And the latest data is showing that 32 percent of new infections which occurred last year are amongst men having sex with men, 40 percent are heterosexual, so it means that more than 70 percent is due to sexual transmission. So that is very important to put in perspective," said Sidibe.
While it was mainly confined to injecting drug users in the past, in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the disease is now also spreading to the sex partners of people who inject drugs.
Sidibe said while the decline in mortality was partly due to HIV prevention programmes, more needed to be done by governments to stop the discrimination of those groups at higher risk of HIV infection.
"The world is calling for normalising the fight against HIV/AIDS. But at the same time, what is happening is most of the people at risk… I am talking about sex workers, I am talking about men having sex with men, I am talking about drug users, instead of universal access, they are facing universal obstacles," he said.
"We are seeing a lamentable trend of criminalisation of those groups of people. Today you have more than 80 countries with homophobic laws, which are just considering having a different sexual orientation is criminal and those countries are just arresting those people. So they are hiding themselves, they are fuelling the epidemic, because they are discriminated, because they are stigmatised and because they cannot have access to services," he added.
Sidibe also said he saw hope in the development of an AIDS vaccine after an experimental vaccine in Thailand was seen to give protection against AIDS during a trial.
"I think the Thai (vaccine) experimentation is showing that we have hope and that we need to make sure that we mobilise the scientists of the world to avoid to have 7,500 new infections every day. And we can stop that, with of course a combination of solutions, like I was saying right now by making sure we use all the tools that are existing, including maybe a vaccine in the future," he added.
The vaccine tested on volunteers is a combination of Sanofi-Aventis's ALVAC canary pox vaccine and the failed HIV vaccine AIDSVAX, made by VaxGen and now owned by the non-profit Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases.
U.S. and Thai government researchers said the vaccine lowered the risk of HIV infection by 32 percent among 16,000 heterosexual Thai volunteers who had no special risk of AIDS infection. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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