The 2010 edition of the UNAIDS Report on the global AIDS epidemic includes new country by country scorecards on key issues facing the AIDS response. Based on the latest data from 182 countries, this global reference book provides comprehensive analysis on the AIDS epidemic and response. For the first time the report includes trend data on incidence from more than 60 countries, reporting progress in their efforts to control and eventually eradicate HIV/AIDS.
A worldwide decline in infection rates was recorded. According to the 2010 report from UNAIDS, the United Nations' HIV/AIDS program, the overall HIV infection rate has declined almost 20 percent in 10 years – from 3.1 million new cases in 1999 to 2.6 million in 2009. That decrease follows decades of explosive growth in the number of infections.
A decline in South Africa's infection rates: South Africa has the world's largest number of people living with HIV – 5.6 million, according to AVERT, a U.K.-based AIDS organization. But it is also one of the 56 countries that have slowed or stabilized their HIV infection rates. There was a 25 percent decline in the infection rate between 2001 and 2009, according to the U.N. The HIV infection rate among 18-year-olds declined from 1.8 percent in 2005 to 0.8 percent in 2008, and among women ages 15 to 24, it dropped from 5.5 percent to 2.2 percent between 2003 and 2008.
Fewer dying from AIDS-related illnesses: The number of people dying from AIDS-related illnesses has also dropped. In 2009, according to UNAIDS, about 1.8 million people died, compared with 2.1 million in 2004 – almost a 20 percent decline. Most experts attribute that success to better access to treatment. The number of people getting treatment has increased 7.5 times in the past five years – up to 5.2 million in 2009, compared with 700,000 in 2004.
UNAIDS also reports that the number of people living with HIV has increased slightly, as life expectancy improves because of access to antiretroviral treatments.
Safer sexual practices: UNAIDS reports that the adoption of safer sexual practices is central to a decline of more than 25 percent in new HIV infection rates among young people in countries with a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Of safe sexual practices, one of the most notable developments is the increase in condom use and availability.
Fewer babies born with HIV: UNAIDS estimates that 370,000 children were newly-infected in 2009, which is a large number, but is also a 24 percent decline from several years ago.
The number of HIV-positive pregnant women who received treatment to prevent transmission of HIV to their children increased drastically – from 35 percent in 2007 to 53 percent in 2009. The number of countries with large numbers of women not receiving treatment to prevent transmission has shrunk to 14.
