| AIDS: records low death rate
down in Nigeria –WHO
By Ike Nnamdi, The Sun Reporter, New York
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Fewer Nigerians have died of the dreaded AIDS pandemic in a
remarkable survival turn-around for a disease once considered
a death sentence. According to the United Nations Aids Agency
(UNAIDS) there were 400,000 fewer new infections last
year, down by 15 percent when compared to figures from 2001.
The report, however, had grim news for the sub-region and
indicated that the disease had killed 25 million people worldwide
and the number of newly infected grew by 2.7 million in 2008,
bringing the world total to 33.4 million. The report said that
sub-Saharan Africa was where the scourge of AIDS is most keenly
felt. Officials said that during that same period, new HIV infections
in East Asia declined by 25 percent and by 10 percent in South and
South East Asia.
The report stated the availability of life-saving HIV drugs was
helping more people live longer. The agency said preventive strategies
like the use of condoms and better access to powerful drug
treatments had helped save thousands of lives. It estimated
that since the availability of effective treatment in 1996, some
2.9 million lives had been saved. “In total, almost 60 million
people have been infected by HIV and 25 million people killed by
causes related to the virus since the epidemic started,” officials
stated.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the epicenter of the global pandemic, the
number of new infections has fallen by around 15% since 2001, equating
about 400,000 fewer infections in 2008 alone. In the same
period, infection rates were down by nearly 25% in East Asia and
by 10% in South and South East Asia. In Eastern Europe, after
a dramatic increase in new infections among injecting drug users,
the rate of infection has leveled off considerably.
Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr Margaret Chan,
said international and national investment in HIV treatment scale-up
had yielded concrete and measurable results.
“We cannot let this momentum wane. Now is the time to redouble
our efforts and save many more lives,” she stated. She
added that anti-retroviral therapy had also made a significant impact
in preventing new infections in children as more HIV-positive mothers
gained access to treatment preventing them from transmitting the
virus to their children. About 200,000 new infections among children
have been prevented since 2001, the report added.
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