HIV infection dropped 20 percent from 2001 to 2009: UN
August 26th, 2011 - 7:32 pm ICT by IANSGeneva, Aug 26 (IANS) The number of new HIV infections in the Asia-Pacific region dropped by 20 percent between 2001 and 2009, a UN report said Friday.
The report titled “HIV in Asia and the Pacific: Getting to Zero” states that the number of new HIV infections in the region dropped from about 450,000 in 2001 to 360,000 in 2009, thanks to government-invested preventative programmes and increased access to anti-retroviral drugs, Xinhua said.
About 4.7 million people in the region are currently estimated to be living with HIV, with the majority of them in Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Vietnam.
Cambodia, India, Myanmar and Thailand have reduced their HIV infection rates significantly with intensive HIV prevention programmes for people who buy and sell sex, said the report.
Despite a three-fold increase in the access to anti-retroviral therapy since 2006, more than 60 percent of people in the region, who were eligible for HIV treatment, still could not access it by the end of 2009, the report said.
“Getting to zero, new HIV infections in Asia and the Pacific will demand national responses based on science and the best available evidence,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe.
New HIV infections remain concentrated among key populations, such as people who buy and sell sex, people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, and transgenders, it said.
- Aim to eliminate HIV-AIDS from South-East Asia by 2015: WHO (Dec 1 is World AIDS Day) - Nov 30, 2011
- 34 mn HIV patients in world, infection rate down: UNAIDS - Jun 03, 2011
- Nearly five million HIV infected in Asia-Pacific - Aug 11, 2009
- Over four million HIV cases in Asia-Pacific: WHO - Aug 11, 2009
- India to continue generic drugs for HIV patients - Jul 06, 2011
- Hundreds in northeast pledge fight against HIV - Dec 01, 2010
- HIV/AIDS still a serious health problem: WHO - Dec 01, 2010
- AIDS welfare cost may effect growth: Report - Apr 01, 2011
- Work on inequalities to get rid of AIDS: UN - Dec 01, 2010
- Dip in AIDS deaths: UN report (Dec 1 is World AIDS Day) - Nov 30, 2011
- Aid appeal to combat HIV/AIDS in Myanmar - Dec 06, 2011
- Russia tests HIV vaccine - Feb 06, 2012
- Northeast pledges to step up fight against HIV/AIDS - Dec 01, 2009
- Meet on AIDS begins at UN - Jun 08, 2011
- New AIDS cases in India drop by 50 percent - Apr 01, 2011
Tags: anti retroviral drugs, asia pacific region, director michel, executive director, geneva, hiv, hiv infection rates, hiv infections, hiv prevention, hiv treatment, india indonesia, indonesia malaysia, living with hiv, myanmar, national responses, papua new guinea, populations, sex with men, unaids, xinhua