Report updates global HIV/AIDS data
Gay.com
/ PlanetOut.com
ETTom Musbach
NovEMBER 26, 2002
A new report
released on Tuesday about the growing global AIDS epidemic estimates that 42
million people are living with HIV/AIDS -- a net gain this year of about 2
million, or the entire population of Nevada.
The report, from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization, also revealed that women make up 50 percent of total infections worldwide and stressed that AIDS -- a humanitarian crisis itself in many countries -- is increasingly a factor in other humanitarian problems.
"In some regions, HIV/AIDS, in combination with other crises, is driving ever-larger parts of nations toward destitution," the report stated.
The grim tone of the report echoes the urgency that has been expressed recently by world leaders, intelligence reports and countless media editorials. During a speech two weeks ago, for example, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell called HIV/AIDS "the biggest problem that we have on the face of the Earth today."
While sub-Saharan Africa remains the region most affected by the epidemic, the report warned that China, India and other Asian countries face staggering consequences if they don't act quickly to educate populations about HIV prevention.
"The window of opportunity for bringing the HIV/AIDS epidemic under control is narrowing rapidly in Asia," the report noted.
India is the second-most hard-hit nation behind South Africa, with an estimated 3.97 million people living with HIV. In China, the epidemic "shows no signs of abating," with more than 1 million already infected and the possibility that 10 million will have the disease by the end of this decade.
The report also urged focusing prevention efforts toward youth. "The future trajectory of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic depends on whether the world can protect young people everywhere against the epidemic and its aftermath," the authors wrote.
Other data released this week in the United States supports the long-term benefits of HIV prevention.
According to a study published in the journal AIDS, HIV prevention efforts may have saved between 204,000 and 1.5 million lives in the United States since the 1980s. The average cost for preventing each infection was estimated between $6,400 and $49,700, which is less than the estimated $195,000 for lifetime treatment of HIV infection, reported Reuters Health.
The UNAIDS report was released days before World AIDS Day, which is commemorated annually on Dec. 1.