Use Of Antiretrovirals Increases Among African Pregnant Women, Children With HIV/AIDS, U.N. Report Says

The number of HIV-positive pregnant women taking antiretroviral drugs to prevent mother-to-child transmission increased in parts of Africa in 2008 to more than 50% of those in need of the medications, according to the United Nations’ 2009 progress report on HIV/AIDS, the Boston Globe reports. The report found that the number of people tested for HIV more than doubled in many countries in 2008, contributing to an increase in detection and the number of people taking antiretroviral drugs in the developing world. U.N. said in its report that more than four million people worldwide are taking medication for HIV/AIDS. Mark Stirling, U.N.’s regional director for HIV/AIDS in Africa, said there was a “huge ramping up of AIDS services” between 2007 and 2008. He added, “It’s unprecedented. In the acceleration and intensification of reach, 2008 was an extraordinary year” (Dugger, Boston Globe, 10/1).

Teguest Guerma, the interim HIV/AIDS director for the World Health Organization, said the “greatest gains” were in sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for two-thirds of HIV cases. According to Guerma, about 2.9 million people in the area were receiving treatment for HIV/AIDS by the end of 2008 (Wilson, “All Things Considered,” NPR, 9/30). According to the Globe, a large-scale international effort to fight AIDS — financed by the U.S., European countries and other donors — helped ensure that more African children with HIV received antiretroviral drugs. The number of children taking the medications rose from 198,000 in 2007 to 275,700 in 2008.

The report also found that 2.7 million new cases of HIV occurred in 2007, the most recent year for which estimates are available. Many African countries in 2008 began the framework for programs to broadly offer male circumcisions, which can lower the risk of HIV, the report noted. However, leaders need to be more outspoken about the benefits of circumcision and about how having multiple long-term sexual partners contributes to the epidemic, according to the report (Boston Globe, 10/1).

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