AIDS estimates revised: UN

UN has revised its estimates about the number of HIV infected people. The number has reduced from 40 million to 33.2 million, which is quite noticeable. Out of these 33.2 million, 30.8 million are adults and 2.5 million are children.

The agency in its latest estimates has found that the number of people infected from HIV is far less than any previous estimates. These estimates are more accurate as better ways of data collection are possible now.

The major contributor to this decrease is India where according to the previous estimates the count was around 5.7 million. Now it has been found that the real count is almost half of the earlier one, with the value of around 2.7 million. Also the time before which a person dies, if not treated, has been estimated to have increased from 9 to 11 years.

"The single biggest reason for this reduction was the intensive exercise to assess India's HIV epidemic, which resulted in a major revision of that country's estimates," the report said.

"UNAIDS and the World Health Organization are now working with better information from many more countries," UNAIDS Executive Director Dr. Peter Piot said in a statement.

"This reflects natural trends in the epidemic, as well as the result of HIV prevention efforts. Of the total difference in the estimates published in 2006 and 2007, 70 percent are due to changes in six countries: Angola, India, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe," the report said.

Nonetheless, this data shows that AIDS is still widespread and efforts to fight HIV must be stepped up, said officials at the U.N. AIDS agency UNAIDS.

"These improved data present us with a clearer picture of the AIDS epidemic, one that reveals both challenges and opportunities," Dr. Peter said.

This problem is still overwhelming in Africa and Asia. "In Asia, the estimated number of people living with HIV in Vietnam has more than doubled between 2000 and 2005 and Indonesia has the fastest growing epidemic," the report said. The total number of infected people in Africa is around 22.5 million which is the largest in any continent and in fact is almost 2/3rd of the total number of infected people across the globe.

"Eight countries in this region now account for almost one-third of all new HIV infections and AIDS deaths globally," said UNAIDS.

Another reason for the decrease in number is the actual decrease in the number of new infections. The rate decreased from 3 million per year in 1990s to 2.5 million in 20007.

"Unquestionably, we are beginning to see a return on investment -- new HIV infections and mortality are declining and the prevalence of HIV leveling. But with more than 6,800 new infections and over 5,700 deaths each day due to AIDS, we must expand our efforts in order to significantly reduce the impact of AIDS worldwide."