CDC Media Relations: Press Release: New Study Shows Overall Increase in HIV Diagnoses: African Americans, Latinos, Gay and Bisexual Men most affected
The most comprehensive analysis of US HIV cases completed to date reveals that new HIV diagnoses in 29 states increased in 2002, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today. Overall, new diagnoses in these states rose by 5.1 per cent over the four-year period 1999 to 2002. The increases underscore the urgent need for public awareness and action as countries around the globe observe World AIDS Day. The new analysis of 102,590 people diagnosed with HIV in the 29 states between 1999 and 2002 shows that African-Americans continued to account for more than half (55%) the new diagnoses. Additionally, significant increases in new HIV diagnoses were observed among Latinos (26% increase) and non-Hispanic whites (8% increase). HIV diagnoses increased 17 per cent among gay and bisexual men, and 7 per cent among men overall. The study found no significant changes in the number of new HIV diagnoses among Asian/Pacific Islanders or Native Americans. The analysis was published in the November 28 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
“Fighting HIV in America is as urgent on World AIDS Day in 2003 as it was more than two decades ago when the epidemic began,” said Dr. Julie Gerberding, CDC director. “These new findings strongly support three key realities of today’s epidemic: the HIV epidemic in this country is not over; more often than not the face of HIV in this country is black or Latino; and gay and bisexual men in several communities are facing a possible resurgence of HIV infection.”
“Stigma and discrimination – themes for this year’s World AIDS Day – help perpetuate the HIV epidemic around the world and here in our own country, said Dr. Harold Jaffe, director of CDC’s HIV prevention programs. “These obstacles deter people from getting tested and prevent HIV-infected people from receiving treatment. They also increase the already heavy burden of HIV in communities of color.”
HIV and AIDS: Numbers up by 20% to 49,500 in 2002 (National Statistics Britain): By the end of 2002 the estimated number of people living with HIV in the United Kingdom was estimated at 49,500, an increase of 20 per cent compared with 2001. This figure includes undiagnosed and diagnosed people, with a third of these cases estimated as unaware of their condition. In 2002, 5711 new HIV cases were diagnosed. This was almost double the number diagnosed in 1998, which was 2818. By contrast, the numbers of AIDS diagnoses and deaths in HIV-infected individuals declined after the introduction of effective therapies in the mid-1990s, and in more recent years have remained relatively constant, with 777 reports of AIDS and 3950 deaths so far reported for 2002. The biggest component in the rapid rise in the numbers of new HIV diagnoses has been in heterosexually acquired infections. Since 1999 the number of new HIV diagnoses from heterosexuals have outnumbered those from homosexual and bisexual men.
Surviving AIDS: One Asian dying of AIDS every minute: WHO (Hindustan Times special, Monday, December 1, 2003): AIDS now kills a person every minute in the Asia-Pacific, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday, warning HIV prevalence is increasing in China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Vietnam. The Manila-based WHO regional office for the Western Pacific said in a statement on the occasion of World AIDS Day that more than half a million people in the Asia-Pacific died of the disease in 2003. "That is one death from AIDS every minute," it said, warning that "without major investments in prevention and care, similar annual death tolls can be expected until the end of the decade." New WHO studies showed that more than seven million people were living with HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, out of the global total of 40 million. India had the highest number of people in Asia living with HIV/AIDS -- an estimated 3.8 million to 4.6 million people. According to the new report published by the WHO, "HIV prevalence is increasing in several countries, including China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Vietnam," the statement said. It added that China accounts for about 840,000 HIV infections, with "alarming rates of infection among some populations," including in Xinjiang province where 80 per cent of injecting drug users are infected. In Indonesia and Nepal, there has been a "sudden emergence" of HIV among injecting drug users, the WHO said. "The growing number of AIDS cases in many countries of Asia and the Pacific makes clear the urgent need for HIV/AIDS care and treatment," the statement said.
Mandela says Aids rollout inspires Africa (Sunday Times, South Africa; Monday, December 1, 2003): Former President Nelson Mandela has told SABC radio news that South Africa's rollout of anti-retroviral drugs for HIV positive victims is an inspiration to other African countries. Speaking on the radio today - World Aids Day - the former President said it would influence other African countries "especially if they are convinced what that country (South Africa) is doing will lead to stopping the disease and people are going to get better". The former president, who was outspoken about the need for the rollout long before the government recently changed course and agreed to provide anti- retrovirals to HIV patients, urged people to get tested and to embark on immediate treatment if they were found to be positive.
He said: "Aids is like any other illness provided you treat it as soon as you have it. Your conscience should be clear and people can help you to recover. It is important to get treatment."
Meanwhile Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane, in a message broadcast on the John Perlman show on Monday morning, called on all sections of society to "work together to fight Aids". He said the perception of Aids was skewered by the fact that the majority of the people with the disease "happen to be black".
AIDS drugs to be provided in Govt hospitals by the Press Trust of India (Hindustan Times, New Delhi, India, November 30, 2003): In a major initiative to tackle the dreaded AIDS, Government on Sunday announced that it will provide drugs for the disease in Government hospitals as pharmaceutical industries pledged to lower their prices if incentives were provided. Addressing a press conference on the eve of World AIDS Day here, Union Health Minister Sushma Swaraj said that the programme to provide AIDS medicines in Government hospitals would first begin in the six high-prevalence states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Manipur and Nagaland. The programme is expected to begin from April next and about one lakh AIDS patients are likely to access the drugs through Government hospitals and ante-natal clinics in the first year.
Posted by iain at December 01, 2003 10:45 AM
