Global HIV infection rate goes down, but what about PH?

More accessible treatment options resulted in the decrease of the global rate of HIV infection and AIDS-related deaths, the United Nations reported in its annual update on HIV/AIDS on Monday.

The number of deaths peaked in 2005, in which 2.3 million people with AIDS succumbed to complications due to severely weakened immune systems. This number has since been steadily going down, reaching only 1.7 million in 2011 and 1.6 million last year. New infections, on the other hand, slid from 2.5 million in 2011 to 2.3 million in 2012. Since 2011, the infection rate in children dropped 52 percent while new infections overall has been lessened by 33 percent.

This promising development is the result of increased availability of HIV/AIDS drugs. By the end of 2012, 9.7 million people in poor and middle-income countries have gained access to treatment, up almost 20 percent from the previous year. The UN’s goal is for this number to reach 15 million by 2015.

While global efforts are proving effective in the fight against HIV/AIDS, the Philippines is going against the international trend. Last month, the Philippine National AIDS Council revealed that one Filipino is infected with HIV every one hour and 25 minutes. In July alone, 449 new cases of infection were reported (up from 431 in June), bringing the year’s total to 2,772 here at home.

According to the council’s executive director, Ferchino Avelino, the rate observed in the last four years is alarming. New cases spiked by 523 percent from 2008 to 2012.

Today, there are 35.3 million people worldwide living with HIV. HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, is the cause of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, commonly abbreviated as AIDS. The virus can be transmitted by blood, breast milk and semen during unprotected sex.

There is no viable cure or vaccine for HIV/AIDS yet but the condition can be controlled with high active antiretroviral therapy, which uses a cocktail of drugs, slowing down the progression of the disease. Treatment also includes preventive and active treatment of opportunistic infections. –Ed Biado, Manila Standard Today