Annual report shows progress in global fight against HIV/AIDS

An estimated 33.3 million people worldwide have the HIV virus that causes AIDS, but the global
health community is starting to slow down and even turn the epidemic around. According to the 2010 global update from the Joint U.N. Programme on HIV/AIDS released today, new HIV infections have reduced by nearly 20 percent in the past 10 years, and AIDS-related deaths are declining as access to treatment has expanded.

However, an estimated 10 million people are waiting for treatment. Most people receiving antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa start treatment too late.

“Often times they don’t realize that they are HIV-positive, and as a result they don’t seek treatment until they are very sick,” says UNAIDS Senior Adviser on Epidemiology, Karen Stanecki. “Coverage is still poor and we need to more work to get more people onto treatment,” she told Vatican Radio.

As more countries are using effective treatment regimes to prevent mother-to-child transmission, the total number of children born with HIV has decreased by 24% in the past five years.

But in some countries, punitive laws continue to hamper access to AIDS-related services. In the Asia-Pacific, 90% of countries have law which obstruct the rights of people living with HIV.

Listen to Karen Stanecki’s full interview with Kelsea Brennan-Wessels: