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UNFPA:
PREVENTION PROGRAMMES AND OTHER FACTORS BEHIND THE DROP IN GLOBAL HIV
PREVALENCE:
25/11/2007 (MaximsNews Network)
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UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network /
- 25 November 2007 -- New
data released by UNAIDS, the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, show that
prevention programmes specifically targeting youth appear to be behind the
decline in HIV prevalence in key countries.
In its yearly AIDS
update, released today, the Geneva-based organization downgraded last year’s
global HIV prevalence by more than 6 million, from 39.5 million in 2006 to 33.2
million today. The numbers of those dying from the disease have also been
downgraded—from 3.2 million in 2006 to 2.1 million today.
Most of the decline
can be attributed to new and more accurate data collection and to HIV-positive
people living longer because more and more are able to access life-saving
anti-retroviral therapy.
UNAIDS estimates that
in at least nine high-prevalence countries, prevention activities and condom
use, coupled with a reduction in the number of sexual partners, appears to have
played a significant role in a drop in the number of new HIV infections.
Steve Kraus, HIV/AIDS
Branch Chief for UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, says the new numbers
show that investments in prevention programmes are clearly working. “This new
report of UNAIDS communicates what we have known for many years—namely,
prevention works. Young people, when provided with accurate and comprehensive
information, education and services postpone sexual debut, reduce the number of
sex partners, and ensure the use of condoms.”
So far, the new data
also suggest that HIV transmission among young people is declining in nine
countries. These are: Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, Kenya, Haiti, Malawi, Togo,
Zambia and Zimbabwe. These trends, combined with evidence of significant
declines in HIV prevalence among young pregnant women in urban and rural areas
from five countries (Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Malawi and Zimbabwe)
indicate that HIV prevention efforts are having a significant impact in some of
the worst effected countries.
“We are seeing a
return on investments made in the past several years,” says Kraus. “We need
to continue these investments, knowing that universal access to sexual and
reproductive health allows countries and communities to scale up HIV prevention
services and help make the money work.”
Despite good news,
HIV continues to be the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa, with women
disproportionately affected at 61 per cent. Every day 6,800 people are newly
infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In Europe, Russia and the Ukraine
continue to lead the continent in the number of new HIV infections while Haiti
and the Dominican Republic are both home to the highest numbers of people living
with HIV in the Western Hemisphere.
For more information
go to: www.unfpa.org and www.unaids.org.
Contact: Patricia Leidl
Tel.: +1 (212) 297-5031
Labels:
United Nations, U.N., Thoraya
Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA, United
Nations Population Fund, HIV
Rates Drop, Prevention
Programmes
~~~~~
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