Investing wisely in HIV/AIDS.

摘要

Ahead of World AIDS Day on Dec 1, 2011, WHO, UNICEF, and UNAIDS launched the Global HIV/AIDS Response 2011 progress report on Nov 30. The report is the fifth such annual report published since 2006. As John Zarocostas reports in this month's Newsdesk, the latest edition contai ns much good news on treatment and prevention, but the gains made by past efforts are jeapardised by the ongoing global financial crisis and dwindling funds.The number of people receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) is increasing, with over 6-65 million patients in middle-income and low-income countries receiving treatment at the end of 2010. In the same year, nearly a half of pregnant women living with the HIV received prophylaxis to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Being on treatment has an impact on prevention as well. In sub-Saharan Africa, clinical trials have shown that if an HIV-positive person receives ART the risk of transmitting the virus to a partner is cut by 96%. Increased access to HIV-care services resulted in a reduction of new infections from 3-1 million in 2001 to 2-7 million in 2010, and a 22% decline in AIDS-related deaths in the past 5 years.