U.N. Estimates 33.2 Million People Have HIV

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World Health Organization released a report on Tuesday about the current prevalence of HIV in the world and individual countries.

According to a press release issued by the United Nations, the new report indicates that approximately 33,200,000 people are infected with the virus. The report also indicates that about 2,500,000 people have become infected in 2007 (not included in the 33.2 million) and 2,100,000 have died because of it.

It quoted the Executive Director of the Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS as saying that over 6800 people are infected by HIV every day, and more than 5700 die. He called for increased efforts to be taken against AIDS throughout the world.

The report indicated that AIDS is one of the largest causes of death worldwide, and the leading cause of death in the African continent. However, it found that the amount of young people transferring the virus to others has reduced in Malawi, Kenya, Togo, Zambia, Chad, Cameroon, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Haiti. It also stated that HIV rates for young, pregnant women have decreased in Kenya, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. The press release attributed this to efforts being taken in those countries aimed at preventing HIV.

It quoted the chief of the U.N. Population Fund's HIV/AIDS branch as pointing out that the report confirms appropriate education and services for young people can reduce the types of sexual behavior which spread the virus. He referred to this as a "return on investments", saying that such investments in preventing the spread of HIV need to be continued.

The sixty-page report (PDF format) "AIDS Epidemic Update" provides a large amount of data on HIV and AIDS infection rates in different regions and types of people, as well as various causes of infection. It states that South Africa is the nation with the highest number of HIV infections. The prevalence of AIDS is decreasing or remaining the same in many African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American countries, but rising in some European, North American, and Asian countries.

According to the Wikipedia entry on HIV, the virus can lead to AIDS, which causes the immune system to fail. This allows other infections to more easily cause harm. It can be transmitted through sexual activity, needles, birth, and a few other less-frequent causes. Some types of HIV transmit from one person to the next more easily than others.

Sources:

1. United Nations, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24742
2. United Nations,
http://data.unaids.org/pub/EPISlides/2007/2007_epiupdate_en.pdf
3. Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV