U.N. 2005 AIDS Report: HIV Infection Rates Drop in Some Countries, Increase Globally
An annual report by UNAIDS and WHO was released this week and reported that HIV infection rates have decreased in certain countries while rates have increased globally overall.
An annual report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) was released this week and reported that HIV infection rates have decreased in certain countries while rates have increased globally overall.
The AIDS Epidemic Update 2005, which this year focuses on HIV prevention, was released on Nov. 21 in advance of World AIDS Day, marked worldwide on the first of December.
“We are encouraged by the gains that have been made in some countries and by the fact that sustained HIV prevention programs have played a key part in bringing down infections,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Dr. Peter Piot in a statement on Monday. “But the reality is that the AIDS epidemic continues to outstrip global and national effort to contain it.”
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The much-anticipated update on the AIDS epidemic reports on the latest developments in the global AIDS epidemic and contains maps and regional summaries, statistics, and a special section on HIV prevention. The report, released on Nov. 21, revealed encouraging statistics that Kenya, Zimbabwe and some countries in the Caribbean region all showed decline in HIV prevalence over the past few years.
The report indicated that evidence of decrease in adult HIV infection rates were largely due to changes in behavior to prevent infection – such as increased use of condoms, delay of first sexual experience and fewer sexual partners.
In terms of countries with decrease HIV infection rates, the AIDS Epidemic Update 2005 informed that Kenya decreased from a peak of 10 percent in the late 1990s to 7 percent in 2003; HIV rates among pregnant women in Zimbabwe from 26 percent in 2003 to 21 percent in 2004; and in urban areas of Burkina Faso – a Western African nation, north of Ghana – prevalence among young pregnant women declined from around 4 percent in 2001 to just under 2 percent in 2003.
Several countries in the Caribbean region also provided reserved optimism for its recent developments in HIV infections. The Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Dominican Republic and Haiti display progress as HIV prevalence declines among pregnant women, signs of increased condom use among sex workers, and expansion of voluntary HIV testing and counseling have been reported.
In addition, the report recognizes that access to HIV treatment has improved dramatically over the past two years. More than one million people in low-and middle-income countries are now living longer and better lives because they are on antiretroviral treatment and an estimated 250,000 to 350,000 deaths were averted this year because of expanded access to HIV treatment.
Yet despite the encouraging news, UNAIDS/WHO warned that the overall number of people living with HIV has continued to increase in all regions of the world except those particular countries mentioned.
In 2005 alone, there was an additional five million new infections. The number of people living with HIV globally has reached its highest level with an estimated 40.3 million people, up from an estimated 37.5 million in 2003. Moreover, over three million people died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2005; of those, more than 500,000 were children.
According to the report, the steepest increases in HIV infection occurred in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (25 percent increase to 1.6 million) and East Asia. But sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the most affected globally – with 64% of new infections occurring there (over three million people).
“It is clear that a rapid increase in the scale and scope of HIV prevention programs is urgently needed,” Piot said on Monday. “We must move from small projects with short-term horizons to long-term, comprehensive strategies.”
World Vision, one of the largest Christian relief and development organizations in the world, is one group that has been increasing its efforts to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa.
“As a worldwide community, we are facing the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time — the HIV/AIDS pandemic,” World Vision wrote on its website. “This is a historic opportunity for the Church to demonstrate God's love through prayer and effective action.”
In addition to World Vision, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, Church World Service, Medical Assistance Program (MAP) International, and World Vision International are a few other Christian organizations involved in the fight against the AIDS pandemic.
The Christian community has responded to the HIV/AIDS pandemic by providing AIDS-related programs, HIV prevention education, helping orphans affected by the disease, and by caring and advocating for those infected.
Most recently, the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization hosted the North American Consultation on the Role of the Church in the HIV/AIDS crisis, a gathering of about 600 church leaders and mission representatives to learn how the Church should respond to HIV/AIDS.
Saddleback Church, with some 30,000 members, will also host an HIV/AIDS conference from Nov. 29-Dec.1 at its location in Lake Forest, Calif. Speakers include Rick and Kay Warren, Bill and Lynne Hybels, and other leaders from around the world. The conference will educate the people on the global P.E.A.C.E. plan – a program that outlines specific steps to use local churches to erase the global health crisis.
