HIV/AIDS: Report shows Progress in Global AIDS Epidemic
A new report from the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has shown a dramatic acceleration towards reaching the 2015 global targets on HIV, a UN statement said on Tuesday.
The statement, made available to PANA in New York, quoted UNAIDS as saying there had been a 52 per cent reduction in new HIV infections among children and a combined 33 per cent reduction among adults and children since 2001.
The agency also said AIDS-related deaths have dropped by 30 per cent since the peak in 2005 as access to antiretroviral treatment expands.
‘In addition to outlining new global HIV estimates, the 2013 UNAIDS Report on the global AIDS epidemic reviews progress on ten specific targets which were set by United Nations Member States,’ it said.
The statement quoted Mr. Peter Ghys, UNAIDS Chief of Data, as saying the progress in reducing new infections among children ‘has been very dramatic. It is the one indicator that has declined the most.
‘So the success can be attributed to programmes that have been put in place to reduce the transmission from mothers to their children.’
The UNAIDS report, however, noted that gender inequality, punitive laws and discriminatory
actions continue to hamper national responses to HIV.
