Global AIDS deaths continue to fall

A UN report says the number of people who die of AIDS is falling in 33 countries, 22 of which in sub-Saharan Africa, the region that bears the brunt of the AIDS pandemic. The annual UNAIDS report says the number of people dying of the disease fell to 1.8 million in 2010, showing a 21 percent decrease compared with the peak of 2.2 million recorded in 1997. About 2.5 million deaths have been averted in poor and middle-income countries since 1995 when medications were introduced with easier access. Treatment coverage has also increased over the past two years. According to the figures, 2.7 million people have been infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) each year for the last five years. The significant improvement achieved in controlling the disease has brought the number of people living with HIV to a record of 34 million while fraction of people getting treatment for the infection reached almost 50 percent. UNAIDS director Michel Sidibe called the past 12 months a “game-changing year” in the global fight against AIDS. “We have seen a massive scale up in access to HIV treatment which has had a dramatic effect on the lives of people everywhere,” Sidibe added. “Even in a very difficult financial crisis, countries are delivering results in the Aids response.” Since the beginning of the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s, more than 60 million people have been infected with the HIV. After almost 3 decades of global challenge the trend of new infections showed a drop in 2010 for the third year in a row.