BARCELONA - HIV infects 40 million people today around the world, will have a balance sheet even more this decade that previously thought, researchers said the surprisingly sober opening plenary session of the biggest AIDS conference ever held.
the first scientific presentation of the International AIDS Conference XIV, a week-long meeting that attracted 17,000 participants, here July 7 offered a big-picture perspective - and it was dark. Another 45 million people will be infected with HIV by 2010 unless the world steps up efforts to prevent transmission of the virus, said epidemiologist Bernhard Schwartländer the World Health Organization, citing an analysis he and colleagues published in July 6 issue of the Lancet . "One of the most disturbing trends of all," said Schwartländer the packed house, is the impact the virus is having on adolescents and young adults. Nearly half of newly infected people in the world are between 15 and 24
Schwartländer stressed that young children were walloped by collateral damage from the virus - and will probably hit harder in the future . Backing up his point is an analysis published at this meeting by the US Census Bureau, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV / AIDS (UNAIDS) and other groups estimating that 13.4 million children under 15 have lost one or both parents to AIDS, and by 2010 that number will nearly double
These frightening trends are not just limited to developing countries :. Eastern Europe had little HIV 10 years ago, but now has more people infected than the whole of Western Europe, Schwartländer said. And he noted that some cities in the richest countries, including the US, have recently seen jumps in new infections. "The richest countries of the world are not immune to the growing epidemics either," he said.
"It is now clear that the AIDS epidemic is still in its infancy "said Peter Piot, head of UNAIDS. "This is the worst epidemic in human history."
Related Sites
The UNAIDS website
Conference's website XIV International AIDS
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