Record 4.9 mln new HIV cases in 2005: UN
By Kamil Zaheer 57 minutes ago
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Almost 5 million people were infected by
HIV globally in 2005, the highest jump since the first reported case in 1981, taking the number living with the virus to a record 40.3 million, the U.N. said on Monday.
The 4.9 million new infections have been fueled by the epidemic's continuing rampage in sub-Saharan Africa and a spike in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the
United Nations'
UNAIDS body said in its annual report.
"Despite progress made in a small but growing number of countries, the
AIDS epidemic continues to outstrip global efforts to contain it," the report said.
More than 3.1 million people have died this year from AIDS including 570,000 children -- far more than the toll from all natural disasters since last December's tsunami.
Southern Africa, including South Africa -- which has the highest number of cases at more than 5 million -- continues to be worst-hit.
Focusing on the upward spiral in South Africa where the infection rate among pregnant women touched 29.5 percent in 2005, the report said deaths of people in aged between 25 and 44 had more than doubled.
Other southern Africa countries such as Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland had high rates of HIV among pregnant women -- more than 30 percent -- and sign of growth rates stabilizing.
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 25.8 million HIV-positive people, or 64 percent of the world's total.
MONOGAMOUS WOMEN AT RISK
UNAIDS said the number of HIV-positive women reached 17.5 million this year, more than million more than in 2003.
"In many countries, marriage, and women's own fidelity are not enough to protect them against HIV infection," the report said, adding in India -- with 5.1 million HIV-positive people -- many new infections were being reported in married women infected by their husbands after visiting sex workers.
In Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Russian federation, infections due to unprotected sex are rising after the initial momentum given to the epidemic by injecting drug use.
The report said a total of 1.6 million were living with HIV in 2005 in the region, up from 1.3 million in 2003 and AIDS deaths soared to 62,000 in 2005 from 36,000 in 2003.
MORE THAN BUCKET DROPS?
But the outlook on accessibility of anti-retroviral drugs for people in developing nations is looking brighter.
"Because of recent treatment scale-up since the end of 2003, between 250,000 and 350,000 deaths were averted in 2005," the report said, adding in countries such as Argentina, Cuba, Brazil and Chile, treatment coverage exceeded 80 percent.
But it added too many HIV-positive people were missing out, with just one in 10 Africans and one in seven Asians who need anti-retroviral treatment actually receiving it.
East African countries such as Uganda and, to a lesser extent Kenya, had some success in fighting HIV/AIDS infections in pregnant women, with rates dipping steeply due to changes in sexual behavior.
But in Asia, an increase of 1.2 million since 2003 pushed total cases to 8.3 million, with conditions in countries such as Vietnam and Pakistan ripe for the rapid spread.
Two decades into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the report said that in many parts of the world, including southern Africa, knowledge about HIV transmission was alarmingly low. |
