NYT: Spread of AIDS Is Slowing, U.N. Report Finds

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Spread of AIDS Is Slowing, U.N. Report Finds
By MARIA NEWMAN
Published: May 30, 2006

The spread of AIDS worldwide is slowing down, according to a comprehensive United Nations report on the AIDS epidemic released today, but the number of new infections continues to increase in certain regions and countries.

The report finds reasons for optimism in the slowing spread of AIDS globally, saying it is a sign of an increasing response by individual countries. There is more money available to combat the epidemic than there was five years ago, the report said, as well as better access to treatment and a reduced prevalence of the virus among young people in some countries.

Still, "AIDS remains an exceptional threat," the report said.

The 500-page document was released on the eve of a three-day United Nations conference on AIDS in New York beginning Wednesday.

Though the report estimated that 4.1 million people were newly infected last year with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, it found evidence that the incidence peaked in the 1990's and has stabilized since then. Last year, AIDS killed about 2.8 million people;it has claimed about 25 million lives since it was first recognized in 1981....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/30/health/30cnd-AIDS.html?hp&ex=1149048000&en=a1af93d20e9b31f2&ei=5094&partner=homepage