World AIDS Day 2009

2009 marks the 21st anniversary of World AIDS Day. This year’s theme “Human Rights and Universal Access” addresses the critical need to protect human rights and ensure universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support.

Here are some important updates from UNAIDS on the global epidemic, and more information on our local efforts to improve access to HIV/AIDS services:

Great progress has been made in making HIV/AIDS services available for people around the world, yet achieving universal access remains a priority. At the end of 2007, for example, nearly three million people were receiving antiretroviral treatment in low- and middle-income countries—a 45% improvement over 2006, but just 31% of the estimated global need.

  • UNAIDS estimates that 33.4 million people are living with HIV, including 2.5 million children. Two-thirds live in sub-Saharan Africa
  • Worldwide, about 25 million people have died of AIDS over the past 27 years
  • It’s estimated that 2.5 million people became infected with HIV during 2007—at the time, half of them were under 25 years of age, and will die from AIDS before turning 35
  • The latest data from 64 countries indicate that fewer than 40% of young people have basic information about HIV
  • 33 percent of pregnant women living with HIV received antiretroviral treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission in 2007—up from just 9% in 2004
  • In Namibia and Rwanda, two countries where IntraHealth has worked extensively, antiretroviral treatment increased from 1% and 3%, respectively, in 2003 to 88% and 71%, respectively, in 2007
  • For every two people starting HIV treatment, another five are newly infected. Prevention—especially through counseling and testing—is key to changing the epidemic.

Source: Report on the global AIDS epidemic, UNAIDS, August 2008

IntraHealth works in 19 countries toward the goal of achieving universal access to comprehensive HIV/AIDS services, starting with prevention: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia, Panama, Rwanda, Southern Sudan, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia

 

More:

Voices from the Field: Zambian HIV Project Encourages Positive Living

Voices from the Field: Fighting HIV in Namibia