Dental News - UN says 33.2 million people living with HIV

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UN says 33.2 million people living with HIV

Claudia Salwiczek

Claudia Salwiczek

Mon. 7 July 2008

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LEIPZIG, Germany: An estimated 33.2 million people worldwide were living with HIV as of December 2007, according to a UN report released in June. The report, prepared by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said that the annual rate of new HIV infections appears to have decreased over the last decade.

“Since 2006, progress in containing the HIV epidemic is now being seen in nearly all regions of the world. The world is starting to reap the benefits of the unprecedented investments made during the present decade in responding to the HIV epidemic,” the report states. “ In 2007, an estimated 2.5 million people were newly infected, down from 3.2 million in 1998, while the annual number of AIDS deaths has declined from 3.9 million in 2001 to 2.1 million in 2007. Antiretroviral coverage reaches a number of 3 million people in low- and middle-income countries.

The Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) has warned that despite these efforts, the AIDS epidemic should be classified as a disaster in some countries. Much of the money spent on AIDS is not reaching those in need, IFCR officials told the BBC in London.

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