BERLIN / GENEVA, 21 November 2011 - A new report by the Joint United Nations
Programme on HIV / AIDS (UNAIDS), released today shows that 2011 was a game
changing year for the AIDS response with unprecedented progress in science,
political leadership and results.
The
report also shows that new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths have fallen
to the lowest levels since the peak of the epidemic.
New HIV infections were reduced by 21% since
1997, and deaths from AIDS-related illnesses decreased by 21% since 2005.
“Even in a very difficult financial crisis, countries are
delivering results in the AIDS response,” said Michel Sidibe, Executive
Director of UNAIDS.
“We have seen a
massive scale up in access to HIV treatment which has head a dramatic effect on
the lives of people everywhere.”
According to UNAIDS and WHO estimates, 47% (6.6 million) of
the estimated 14.2 million people eligible for treatment in low and
middle-income countries were accessing lifesaving antiretroviral therapy in
2010, an increase of 1.35 million since 2009.
The 2011 UNAIDS World AIDS Day Report also highlights that there are
early signs that HIV treatment is having a significant impact on reducing the
number of new HIV infections.
Infection rates have dropped in most countries in the Asia Pacific
region including PNG and increasing HIV prevention coverage is resulting in
safer sexual behaviours.
There are more
people than ever before receiving treatment and this is significant because of
the recent evidence that shows the powerful effect of HIV treatment on reducing
transmission.
However, sixty percent of people eligible for antiretroviral
treatment in the Asia Pacific region still do not receive it and Papua New
Guinea continues to have frequent stock outs of crucial life-saving drugs reducing
the impact that treatment could be having on the country’s epidemic.
Globally around 2.5 million deaths are
estimated to have been averted in low and middle income countries like PNG due
to increased access to HIV treatment since 1995.
New HIV infections have been significantly reduced or have
stabilized in most parts of the world, however, the number of new HIV
infections continues to rise in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Pacific, the
Middle-East and North Africa.
Declines in new HIV infections are also being spurred by
changes in sexual behavior, particularly in young people, as people reduce
their numbers of sexual partners, increase condom use and are waiting longer
before becoming sexually active.
HIV prevalence
declined among young people in at least 21 of 24 countries with national HIV
prevalence of 1% or higher.
The Report highlights that an increase in uptake of male
circumcision is also starting to contribute to declines in new HIV
infections.
Studies show that 2000 new
HIV infections were averted amongst men in Kenya’s Nyanza province after scale
up of voluntary male circumcision in clinical conditions (rather than
traditional circumcision).
Estimates in
the report highlight that circumcising 20 million more men across Eastern and
Southern Africa would avert around 3.4 million new HIV infections by 2015.
Around 400,000 new HIV infections in children were estimated
to have been averted since 1995 due to increased access to effective
antiretroviral regimens in low- and middle-income countries by 2010, almost
half (48%) of all pregnant women living with HIV were able to access effective
regiments to prevent their child from becoming infected with the virus.
UNAIDS has mapped a new framework for AIDS investments which
are focused on high-impact, evidence-based, high-value strategies.
“The investment framework is community driven, not commodity
driven. It puts people at the centre of
the approach, not the virus,” said Mr Sidibe.
This new strategic approach to investments would achieve
extraordinary results; at least 12.2 million new HIV infections would be
averted, including 1.9 million among children between 2011 and 2020; and 7.4
million AIDS-related deaths would be averted between 2011 and 2020.
The framework is based on six essential programme
activities: focused interventions for
key populations at higher risk (particularly sex workers and their clients, and
men who have sex with men); prevention of new HIV infections in children;
behavior change programmes; condom promotion and distribution; treatment, care
and support for people living with HIV; and voluntary medical male circumcision
in countries with high HIV prevalence.
For the framework to be effective, programme activities must
recognize critical enablers, such as reducing stigma, respect for human rights,
creating a protective legal environment, and capacity building for community
based organisations, which are curcial to overcoming the barriers to successful
programme outcomes.
To rapidly reduce new HIV infections and to save lives, the
2011 UNAIDS World AIDS Day Report underscores that shared responsibility is
needed.
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