Hard hit Africa leads fall in new HIV infections-UN

Fri Sep 17, 2010 2:54pm GMT

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* New infections down 25 percent vs 2001 in some African nations

* Rapid HIV spread a big problem in E. Europe, Central Asia

* Funding shortfall of $10 bln in 2009 threatens progress

By Kate Kelland

LONDON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - African nations whose populations have been devastated by AIDS have made big strides in fighting HIV, with new infections down 25 percent since 2001 in some of the worst hit places, a U.N. report said on Friday.

African countries with the biggest epidemics like Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe are leading the decline, thanks to better use of prevention methods and greater access to life-preserving drugs, the United Nations AIDS programme (UNAIDS) report said.

"For the first time change is happening at the heart of the epidemic," executive director Michel Sidibe said in a statement. The report charts progress towards a globally agreed Millennium Development Goal to halt and start to reverse the spread of AIDS by 2015.

Sub-Saharan Africa reamins the region hardest hit by HIV, accounting for 67 percent of all people living with the virus worldwide, 71 percent of AIDS-related deaths and 91 percent of all new infections among children. Continued...

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