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UN: Large fall in Aids cases

20/11/2007

The United Nations (UN) has reported a fall of six million in the number of people thought to be infected by Aids.

A report by the UN Aids agency states that it overestimated the total number of people carrying the disease, adding that new criteria showed 33.2 million and not 39.5 million people were sufferers.

A change in sampling techniques saw large drops in those estimated to
be suffering from the disease in India, with the probable number of cases there falling by more than half. Changes in information collection standards also saw reductions in the number of those afflicted by the HIV virus in sub-Saharan Africa, which is particularly hard-hit by its spread.

However the UN report adds that over 2.5 million new people were infected with the disease last year. Officials stressed the infection rate represented an improvement on figures in the 1990s, which consistently showed an average annual increase of over three million.

UN Aids executive director Dr Peter Piot said the new figures were due to both improved treatment and changes in the patterns of sexual behaviour among people.

He said: "These improved data present us with a clear picture of the Aids epidemic.

"Unquestionably, we are beginning to see a return on investment," Dr Piot added, in reference to measures designed to combat the spread of Aids.

Dr Piot also called for greater efforts to be taken to curb the spread of the disease, which can be transmitted through unprotected sex and infected needles.

Commenting on the report, the director of the World Health Organisation's Aids department, Kevin De Cock, said: "For the first time, we are seeing a decline in global Aids deaths."