UN Report-Young Women
Are New Face of AIDS Epidemic
Excerpt By Patricia Reaney, Reuter's Health

LONDON (Reuters) - It started as a mysterious infection among gay white men, but over two decades HIV/AIDS has exploded into the worst epidemic humanity has ever faced and is now afflicting as many women as men.

AIDS will have killed 3.1 million people by the end of this year, five million more have been infected with the deadly virus and 42 million people, half of them women, are living with HIV/AIDS, according to the latest figures from UNAIDS, the United Nations agency spearheading the battle against AIDS.

"For me what is most striking is that for the first time women comprise 50% of the global epidemic," Peter Piot, the head of UNAIDS, told Reuters on Tuesday.

"In Africa 58% of all people living with HIV are women. The face of AIDS is becoming the face of young women," he added in an interview ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1.

The changing dynamics of HIV/AIDS means more babies could become infected through their mothers. Women, traditionally a family's caregivers, are being struck down with the illness that has afflicted their husbands, fathers and brothers.

MAKING TRADITIONAL PROBLEMS WORSE

AIDS has killed more than 25 million people worldwide since it was first discovered and it is now contributing to other disasters, particularly in southern Africa, which is most affected by the epidemic.

"It has exacerbated the food crisis. That is new. I think we are starting to see the true impact of AIDS in countries that are heavily affected," Piot said.

Drought and famines are not new to Africa but in countries where a quarter or a third of the population are ill, it has intensified the problem.

"Now it is much worse because agricultural production has gone down already because of AIDS, and nutritional requirements for whole communities have increased because people are sick and need more food," Piot added.

The AIDS Epidemic Update: December 2002 shows Africa, with 29.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS, is the worst affected region, Eastern Europe and Central Asia with 1.2 million cases has the fastest growing epidemic but Asia, particularly China and India are the real time bomb.

An estimated one million people in China are infected with HIV and unless effective responses take hold, the number could reach 10 million people--equivalent to the entire population of Belgium--by the end of this decade, the report says.

"When you look at the global figures there is no progress and the global figures will depend largely on what's going on in Asia just because the population denominator is so much bigger than anywhere else," Piot said.

In North America and Western Europe, the introduction of anti-AIDS drugs in 1995/96 led to a dramatic fall in AIDS deaths, but the trend has begun to level off.

Researchers are also reporting an increase in unsafe sex and in heterosexual transmission of the virus.

SOME GOOD NEWS

But Piot emphasized that more countries are showing evidence that the number of new infections is declining. In South Africa the HIV prevalence rate among pregnant women under 20 years old fell to 15.2% in 2001 from 21% in 1998.

The report highlighted a similar decline in the virus among young inner-city women in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

"For the first time in years we have solid evidence that prevention can work even in the poorest countries," said Piot.

"There is far more money going into HIV activities than before. It is still not enough but at least there is progress there. That is what I would consider the good news part."

Drug companies have slashed the price of anti-AIDS drugs and countries like Botswana and Nigeria, and some corporations are rolling out programs to offer treatment to people with HIV/AIDS.

But Piot said only a tiny minority of people, mostly in the developed world, are receiving drugs.

"The price reductions are real but even at a dollar a day someone has to pay for it. We are focusing on training of physicians and nurses and finding the money for it. For the poorest countries it will only be possible if money comes from the outside," he said.

"The big problem is Africa--the poorest countries with the largest number of infected individuals."

Reference Source 89

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