U.N reports HIV infections have fallen one third since 2001

A recent report by the United Nations Programme on HIV states that new infections of HIV fell one third globally between 2001 and 2012. This means that there is considerable success in the effort to fight one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases. The key findings of the report which gathered data from 171 of the 193 member UN members are as follows: There were 2.3 million new HIV infections worldwide, down from 2.5 million in 2011 and down 33% from the 3.4 million in 2001. The drop in new infections was observed in both adults and children but was more marked in children — 260 000 in 2012, down 52% from the 550,000 in 2001. The number of AIDS-related deaths was 1.6 million in 2012, down slightly from 1.7 million in 2011 and from the 2005 peak of 2.3 million. Tuberculosis-related deaths in people living with HIV have fallen by 36% since 2004, although...