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I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Health Report.
There are new estimates of the number of Americans with the virus that causes aids. Government researchers say more than one million were living with HIV at the end of 2003. Health officials gave a report on June 13th, at the National HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta Georgia.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention set a goal in 2001 to cut the rate of new infections in half. That goal has not been met. But a CDC official, Dr. Ronald O. Valdiserri, said researchers do think they are making progress. Dr. Carlos del Rio of Emory University in Atlanta, however, suggested that prevention efforts have failed. He says there are may be as many as 60,000 new cases per year. In recent years, the number has been estimated at 40,000. Almost half of those infected are believed to be men who have sex with other men. And researchers say almost half are black.
People who are infected with HIV often do not know it. There are no cures, but drug treatments can delay the progress of HIV into Aids. Aids leaves a persondefenselessagainst disease. One of the millennium development goals of the United Nations is to halt the spread of HIV by 2015.
At a UN meeting on June 2nd, Secretary General Kofi Annan noted progress by some countries. But he also noted that there were more new infections and more Aids related deaths last year than ever before. Mr. Annan said treatment and prevention efforts werenowhere nearenough. He said only 12 percent of the people in need of treatments in low and middle-income countries were receiving them.
Researchers estimate that about 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV. They estimate that every day more than 8,000 people die from Aids related conditions. About half of all people living with HIV are women. And about half of new infections are in young adults. Southern Africa is the area hardest hit by HIV and Aids.
The United States says it continues to support treatment for more people than any other giver in the world. The Presidents Emergency Plan for Aids Relief supports treatment programs in 15 countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. The goal is to help two million people by the end of 2008.
This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. Our reports are on the web at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Gwen Outen.
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