HIV AIDS Soon to Become History

[Revan]

With the profile of HIV-AIDS undergoing transformation from a life-threatening emergency to a manageable chronic infection, the World Health Organisation (WHO) urged South-East Asian countries to focus on eliminating the infection, particularly among children, by 2015.

"We are coming out of a transformative decade for the HIV-AIDS epidemic. With innovative treatment regimens, improved health services as well as political commitment, HIV-positive people who are on treatment are living longer and better lives," said Samlee Plianbangchang, WHO regional director for South-East Asia.

"We must learn from our experiences and work to ensure that no child born gets infected with HIV," said Plianbangchang on the eve of the World AIDS Day Dec 1.

Between 2001 and 2010, the number of people newly infected with HIV declined sharply by 34 percent in South-East Asia that includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, among others.

According to the WHO, with the expansion of facilities providing testing and counselling services, approximately 16 million people have been tested for HIV across the region.

The number of people living with HIV and receiving anti-retroviral treatment (ART) also increased 10-fold, indicating that more people were getting access to the treatment mode launched in 1996 in India.

According to the WHO Progress Report on HIV/AIDS in South-East Asia 2011, an estimated 3.5 million people were living with HIV/AIDS in 2010, including 140,000 children. Women accounted for 37 percent of this population.

The epidemic continues to be on the rise in Indonesia, although the number of new infections is showing a downward trend in India, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand.

The report put out another picture of services in the region, saying: "A majority of people living with HIV are unaware of their HIV status. Less than one out of five pregnant women have access to HIV testing and counselling; two out of three HIV-infected pregnant women do not receive anti-viral prophylaxis."

"Only a third of all people with advanced HIV infection are receiving anti-retroviral treatment as per the latest WHO criteria. However, more than four out of five people who have started treatment are alive and on treatment 12 months after the start of therapy," it added.

I know there's always a lot of stuff about HIV Aids but i still wanted to post this. Though maybe this should be in Health and Well-Being? I'm not sure...

[Chip]

The only problem is, among youth and young adults, HIV infection rates are still rising, at least in the us:

there was an estimated 21% increase in HIV incidence for people aged 13-29 years, driven by a 34% increase in young MSM (the only group to experience a significant increase in incidence in this age range). Among MSM aged 13-29, HIV incidence among black/African American MSM increased significantly (48%) from 2006 through 2009 with a statistically significant 12.2% estimated annual percentage increase.

And gay and bisexual men are still at the highest risk:

Gay and bisexual men remain the population most heavily affected by HIV in the United States. CDC estimates MSM represent approximately 2% of the US population, but accounted for more than 50% of all new HIV infections annually from 2006 to 2009 –56% in 2006 (27,000), 58% in 2007 (32,300), 56% in 2008 (26,900) and 61% (29,300) in 2009.

Above statistics according to CDC

There's no question that treatment is better, people are living longer, and it's no longer the "death sentence" it once was. But I always feel like it's important to talk about this, particularly among teens and young adults, because many of them seem to have the perception that "you just take a pill now" which couldn't be further from the truth.

[Zontar]

They plan on eradicating HIV by 2015 without a vaccine?

Good luck achieving that. This disease may never see an end unless a vaccine is developed.