AIDS now fourth biggest killer worldwide, report says

A joint report by the World Health Organization and the United Nations, published this week to coincide with world AIDS day, concludes that AIDS is the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa and the fourth biggest killer worldwide.

Since the epidemic began 20 years ago, 60 million people worldwide have been infected with the virus, and currently 40 million people live with HIV.

The report warns that rates of infection are rising fastest in eastern Europe and Russia. In 2001 there were an estimated 250000 new infections in the region. Russia has seen a 15-fold increase in infections over the past three years. Most of these cases are related to injecting drug use.

Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the worst affected area. The report says that AIDS killed 2.3 million people in 2001 and that there were 3.4 million new HIV infections. The region is the only one where more women than men are infected by the virus. More than 28 million people in the region currently live with HIV, a prevalence of 8%. Most of these people, the report says, do not know they have the virus.

The epidemic also “threatens human welfare, developmental progress, and social stability on an unprecedented scale.” Hardest hit countries could lose 20% of their gross domestic product by 2020. Steep drops in life expectancies are now beginning to occur. If it were not for HIV and AIDS, the average life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa would be 62 years; it currently stands at 47 years.

The report says that marked increases in rates of infection in Asia and the Pacific, which have some of the world's most populous countries, are also of “particular concern.” Reported HIV infections in China rose by 67% in the first six months of 2001, compared with the previous year. India has a prevalence of about 1% representing an estimated 3.86 million people.

Some progress is being made. In Cambodia and Thailand large scale prevention programmes have held the epidemic “at bay.”

• The United Kingdom's two leading AIDS charities are marking world AIDS day by launching campaigns against the stigma and discrimination shown towards those living with HIV infection and AIDS.

The Terrence Higgins Trust has released a report showing that one in five people with HIV say they have faced prejudice while the National AIDS Trust has launched a new media campaign called “Are you HIV prejudiced?”

AIDS Epidemic Update is accessible at www.unaids.org/worldaidsday/2001