PB, Here's some info on worldwide population size:
By Christopher Burns
The Associated Press
P A R I S, Nov. 26 - More than 30
million people worldwide are now
living with the AIDS virus, and some
16,000 new victims are infected
every day. The United Nations
reports previous figures
underestimated the contagion's reach
by one-third.
One in every 100 sexually active adults
worldwide is infected with HIV, and only
one in 10 knows they are infected, UNAIDS
said in a report released in Paris.
"The main message of our report is the
AIDS epidemic is far from over. In fact, it's
far worse," Peter Piot, director general of
UNAIDS, said at a news conference.
The report said that if current rates hold
steady, the number of people infected with
the immune-stripping disease "will soar to 40
million" and the impact of AIDS mortality "is
only just beginning."
Earlier figures on HIV infection were far
lower because infections were occurring at a
much more alarming rate than previously
thought and calculations of HIV infection in
sub-Saharan Africa were significantly
underestimated, the report said.
Instead of relying on regional estimates,
"for the first time, we went
country-to-country to see what was
happening," Piot said. "The rate of
transmission was grossly underestimated,"
especially in Nigeria and South Africa, he
said.
Rates are also rising in Eastern Europe,
primarily due to intravenous drug users and
lack of AIDS education.
Education Lacking
Even in the West, Piot said, "prevention
efforts are insufficient for youth. I have a
daughter at a school here, and what she's
getting in terms of sex education is
inadequate."
Bernard Kouchner, the French junior
minister for health, told reporters he's
pressing for a world fund to fight AIDS.
The report said some 5.8 million people
have been infected in 1997, and an
estimated 5.3 million were infected in 1996,
up from the count of 3.1 million people that
doctors originally estimated.
The epidemic has struck youth the
hardest, Piot said. "Most of them are under
25 years old."
"It is estimated that 2.3 million people
died of AIDS in 1997-a 50 percent
increase over 1996. Nearly half of those
deaths were in women, and 460,000 were in
children under 15," the report said.
In the developing world, AIDS is wiping
out gains in life expectancy made in recent
decades.
The report paints a devastating picture of
AIDS-ravaged sub-Saharan Africa, with 7.4
percent of people ages 15 to 49 thought to
be infected.
Robbing the Future
Among the stark African news, the report
said that:
- The number of HIV-infected people in
Botswana has doubled over the past five
years, to 25 percent to 30 percent of the
adult population. AIDS has wiped out gains
in life expectancy, which had risen from
under 43 years in 1955 to 61 years in 1990.
- One in five adults in Zimbabwe was
HIV-positive in 1996, and in one town with
a large population of migrant workers, seven
of 10 pregnant women were HIV-positive in
1995.
- Twenty-five percent more infants are
dying in Zambia and Zimbabwe than would
be the case if there were no HIV. AIDS is
expected to push Zimbabwe's infant
mortality rate up 138 percent by 2010. The
report didn't say what the current rate is.
Asia's AIDS epidemic is more recent than
Africa's, the report said, though India's 3
million to 5 million HIV-infected people
make it the country with the most
HIV-infected people in the world. |
