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 24 November 2009
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Number of HIV positive people growing, but infection rate declining: UNAIDS

24/11/2009

The number of people living with HIV worldwide continues to grow and is now estimated at over 33 million. The UN Joint Programme on AIDS, UNAIDS, says there are fewer new infections, however, in part thanks to successes in HIV prevention programmes. Patrick Maigua reports from Geneva.

Women pose for AIDS Epidemic Update's Eastern Europe and Central Asia section

Women pose for AIDS Epidemic Update's Eastern Europe and Central Asia section

In its annual AIDS epidemic update, UNAIDS says 2.7 million people were newly infected with HIV AIDS during 2008, while 2 million people died of AIDS related illnesses. The report says an estimated 430,000 children were born with HIV and that young people now account for nearly 40 per cent of all new adult HIV infections worldwide. Sub Saharan Africa continues to bear the HIV AIDS burden and is now home to more than half of the people living with HIV worldwide and 91 per cent of all new infections among children. Paul De Lay is UNAIDS Deputy Executive director.

"This is clear evidence that we still have a very serious epidemic on our hands, however we also have evidence to show that globally new infections have dropped by 17 per cent in the past 8 years. Most of this progress has been in Sub Saharan Africa, where there were 400,000 fewer infections in 2008 than in 2001."

He says the new report indicates that prevention programmes were often off the mark and more work needs to be done to target population groups with rising infection rates.

"The face of the epidemic is changing, but one of our main concerns is that in many countries HIV prevention programmes are not adapting to this new transmission dynamics. In countries with generalized epidemics such as those in East and Southern Africa, there are very few HIV prevention programmes for people over 25, for married couples, or for people in stable relationships although we know now that HIV prevalence is particularly high among these groups. In parts of Asia, an epidemic that was once characterized by transmissions through sex work and injecting drug use, is now increasingly affecting heterosexual couples."

UNAIDS says access to Anti-Retroviral treatment remains low with more than 5 million people with HIV going without treatment.

Patrick Maigua, United Nations Radio Geneva
(duration: 2'08")

Sound bites

Paul De Lay, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Cut 1

"This is clear evidence that we still have a very serious epidemic on our hands, however we also have evidence to show that globally new infections have dropped by 17 per cent in the past 8 years. Most of this progress has been in Sub Saharan Africa, where there were 400,000 fewer infections in 2008 than in 2001."
Duration: 00:00:24

Paul De Lay, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director Cut 2

"The face of the epidemic is changing, but one of our main concerns is that in many countries HIV prevention programmes are not adapting to this new transmission dynamics. In countries with generalized epidemics such as those in East and Southern Africa, there are very few HIV prevention programmes for people over 25, for married couples, or for people in stable relationships although we know now that HIV prevalence is particularly high among these groups. In parts of Asia, an epidemic that was once characterized by transmissions through sex work and injecting drug use, is now increasingly affecting heterosexual couples."
Duration: 00:00:44