News

New HIV Cases are Declining, UN Reports

By Cheri Cheng | Update Date: Jul 17, 2014 12:40 PM EDT

The latest statistics compiled by the United Nations (UN) reveal that the AIDS epidemic is subsiding. According to the UN, the number of new HIV infections throughout the world is at an all-time low and the number of deaths tied to AIDS has decreased significantly.

"The AIDS epidemic can be ended in every region, every country, in every location, in every population and every community," Michel Sidibe, the director of UNAIDS, said in the report according to HuffPost. "There are multiple reasons why there is hope and conviction about this goal."

In the latest UNAIDS report, the researchers found that over the past three years, the number of new HIV cases has declined by 13 percent. In 2013, there were 2.1 new cases reported, which represent a 38 percent reduction from the number in 2001. The report calculated that new infections for children have fallen by 58 percent since 2001. By the end of 2013, there were a total of 35 million people infected with HIV.

The report calculated that deaths tied to AIDS have fallen by roughly one-fifth over the past three years. The researchers added that the AIDs epidemic has been subsiding due to the fact that more patients are receiving antiretroviral therapy. Despite the positive trend, the researchers cautioned that more needs to be done in order to make sure the trend continues.

 "There have been more achievements in the past five years than in the preceding 23 years. There is evidence about what works and where the obstacles remain, more than ever before, there is hope that ending Aids is possible. However, a business-as-usual approach or simply sustaining the Aids response at its current pace cannot end the epidemic." Michel Sidibe, the executive director of UNAIDS, said, according to BBC News. "If we accelerate all HIV scale-up by 2020, we will be on track to end the epidemic by 2030, if not, we risk significantly increasing the time it would take - adding a decade, if not more."

© 2024 Counsel & Heal All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

Join the Conversation

Real Time Analytics