HIV affects 1.7 million persons in sub-Saharan Africa in 2011 – UNAIDS

New figures from the United Nations AIDS agency (UNAIDS) estimates that about 1.7 million persons living in sub-Saharan Africa were infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) during the year 2011 pushing the total figure of infections in the region to 23.5 million.

Approximately 300,000 children were infected with the virus in the region in 2011, a 26% decline in infections since 2009, the UNAIDS factsheet released late August 2012 showed. Of the 23.5 million infections as at the end of 2011, 3.1 million were children.

“There were an estimated 23.5 [22, 200,  000 – 24, 700, 000] million people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa in 2011, including 3.1 million children,” the factsheet said.

It adds “In sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 1.7 million [1.6 million – 1.9 million] people were newly infected with HIV in 2011.”

“Approximately 300, 000 [250, 000–350, 000] children were newly infected with HIV in the region in 2011—a 26% decline in infections since 2009,” the factsheet indicates.

According to the UNAIDS, more than 90% of children living with HIV globally live in sub-Saharan Africa.

It stated that majority of adult HIV infections in the region resulted from unprotected sexual intercourse, including paid sex and sex between men. Women and girls comprise 60% of people living with HIV in the region, it added.

Nearly 6.2 million people were receiving antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa in 2011, up from just 100 000 in 2003, according to the document with “More than half (56% [53 – 60%]) of people eligible for antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa were receiving it in 2011.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the UNAIDS said increased access to HIV treatment has reduced the number of people dying from AIDS-related causes, from an annual peak of 1.8 million [1.6 million – 1.9 million] in 2005 to 1.2 million [1.1 million – 1.3 million] in 2011.

More than 80% of antiretroviral drugs dispensed in sub-Saharan Africa are imported, it noted.

By Ekow Quandzie