UNAIDS, November 23 – UNAIDS issued a report this week on the increasing infections and deaths of AIDS. UNAIDS is a cooperation of six United Nations organizations in the battle against AIDS. Sadly this battle is far from being over.
Over 3.1 million people were killed by the AIDS virus this year, this is an 11 percent rise in comparison to 2003. Of these deaths about 18% were children beneath the age of 15, a staggering number. New infections of AIDS increased by 7% in 2005 to 4.9 million. Of all deaths 77% occurred in the region of Africa beneath the Sahara desert. New infections occurred 65% in this same area, a worrying development as countries like South Africa and Zimbabwe are among the most prominent. Although the coverage of AIDS treatment is increasing slightly there is still much work to be done. Currently about 40.3 million people are infected with HIV, an absolute record. Since the recognition of AIDS there have been over 25 million deaths because of it.
In the sub-Saharan region of Africa the developments are becoming increasingly worse, about 20% of pregnant women are HIV infected. Pakistan and India are coming dangerously close to being apart of this epidemic with rates increasing quickly. Only East Europe, Central and North America have been showing stable results. Oceania even produced declining results.
Universal access to AIDS treatments is expected around 2010, a very positive image yet far from reality, at this time about 1 in 10 AIDS patients in Africa receive treatment and 1 in 7 Asians receive treatment for this awful disease.
