Hopefully, its not just the calm before the storm or before some bigger, more detrimental std epidemic begins...



from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/201670.php

Over twenty of the most badly affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa have reported reductions in HIV infection rates of over 25% between 2001 and 2009, according to a new report issued by UNAIDS. Countries such as Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Zimbabwe, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Ethiopia are making considerable headway, the report writes. This is significant progress towards the Millenium Development Goal 6 (MDG 6), the United Nations agency said.

UNAIDS reports that the HIV infection rate appears to be either steadily falling or stabilizing in most countries.

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé, said:


We are seeing real progress towards MDG 6. For the first time change is happening at the heart of the epidemic. In places where HIV was stealing away dreams, we now have hope.


Central Asia and Eastern Europe, however, continue reporting expanding HIV epidemics. UNAIDS adds that some developed nations have been experiencing a resurgence of HIV infections among men who have sex with men.

At 5.2 million, there are 12 times as many people receiving HIV treatment today compared to six years ago. As more infected people now have access to treatment, the number of AIDS deaths were 200,000 lower in 2008 than 2004.

According to UNAIDS, the following factors have helped bring HIV infection rates down:
More young people are waiting longer before starting to engage in sexual activity
Condom use has more than doubled among adults globally over the last five years
More people have fewer sexual partners
Common sense is gradually taking the place of tradition.

UNAIDS informs that male circumcision can reduce HIV infection rates among men by almost 60%. A microbicide which is initiated and controlled by women can also help prevent HIV infection.

Tradition and customs are a hard wall to come up against when trying to change behavior.

Good news though.

PEPFAR...

a comparison..



Launched in 2003 by President George W. Bush, PEPFAR holds a place in history as the largest effort by any nation to combat a single disease. In the first five years of the program, PEPFAR focused on establishing and scaling up prevention, care and treatment programs. It achieved success in expanding access to HIV prevention, care and treatment in low-resource settings. During its first phase, PEPFAR supported the provision of treatment to more than 2 million people, care to more than 10 million people, including more than 4 million orphans and vulnerable children, and prevention of mother-to-child treatment services during nearly 16 million pregnancies.

http://www.pepfar.gov/about/index.htm



Over the past year, the Obama administration has rolled out plans for a new, more pragmatic approach to U.S. global-health initiatives. As NEWSWEEK wrote in the fall, the plan was to get more results for less money, something health experts believed they could achieve by diversifying the U.S. global-health portfolio beyond the singular orientation of PEPFAR and teaming up with multilateral partnerships, like the Geneva-based Global Fund.

AIDS advocates are now wondering whether “pragmatic” is just a euphemism for cheap. In the last year, the number of HIV-positive people that PEPFAR started on treatment was the smallest it has been for four years, even while demand increases as patients live longer and the disease continues to spread unabated. The program’s annual report is a thin 20 pages, consisting mostly of charts, compared with the 60- to 100-page tomes that used to mount vigorous defenses of the program each year. At the same time, the decision to slash $50 million from the U.S.’s commitment to the Global Fund has cast doubts on its commitment to multilateralism and partnership.



http://www.newsweek.com/2010/04/27/aids-programs-hit-setbacks-in-africa.html