AIDS deaths and HIV infections in southern Africa are falling dramatically, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS says. But Canadian AIDS activists say there's still lots of work to be done. Michel Sidibé, executive director of the UNAIDS proram said hard work is "breaking the trajectory of the epidemic" in the region that was previously the "epicentre of the HIV crisis." At a special session at the African Union's international conference on maternal, newborn and child health last week in Johannesburg, South Africa, UNAIDS reported that between 2009 and 2012, new HIV infections declined:
- 50 per cent in seven countries.
- 30-49 per cent decline in seven countries.
- Less than 30 per cent decline in six countries.
But, also in eastern and southern Africa, the annual number of new infections fell 30 per cent from 1.7 million in 2001 to 1.2 million 2011, and children, the rate of new infection fell 50 per cent. There was also a 38 per cent decrease in AIDS-related deaths in the region between 2005 and 2011.
UNAIDS credited better access to antiretroviral medication — which was received by less than a million people in 2005, but by more than 6 million in 2012.
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