DATA Statement for World AIDS Day

11.29.07

In the last four years, the number of Africans with access to life-saving antiretroviral treatment has increased dramatically. Only 50,000 people were receiving treatment in 2002; that number rose to 1.34 million people in 2006. On World AIDS Day, we celebrate this substantial progress but still recognize that we are still not winning the war on this epidemic and must redouble our efforts to save millions more still dying of this preventable, treatable disease.

“More than a million African men, women and children who would have been handed a death sentence are now receiving life-saving treatment for AIDS,” said Erin Thornton, policy director for DATA. “This is a remarkable achievement and should inspire us to do more.”

Recent revisions to UNAIDS figures suggest the epidemic has peaked, but more people are living with HIV than ever. For the millions of people in Africa who are infected there is a long way to go to reach near universal access to treatment:
There are 22.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS in Africa, 68% of the global total of 33.2 million people living with HIV/AIDS. Nearly 90% of all HIV positive children (less than 15 years old) live in sub-Saharan Africa. 76% of all deaths from HIV/AIDS world-wide take place in Africa, where HIV/AIDS is still the leading cause of death.

“Efforts to fight AIDS are working, but Africans are still dying at a rate of 4,400 a day,” said Thornton. “We must continue to support and fully fund effective programs like PEPFAR and the Global Fund.”

In 2005, G8 countries pledged not only to provide treatment to those living with AIDS, but also promised universal access to prevention. New infections of HIV are outpacing our treatment of the disease at a rate of 1.7 million per year in Africa (4,700 per day).

“It’s easier to count the pills put in people’s hands than to count the infections prevented, but we cannot stop the spread of AIDS without comprehensive prevention programs,” said Thornton. “We will continue to lose the battle against this disease as long as more people are becoming infected than lives are saved.”

Press Contacts:
USA – Taylor Thompson, 202.215.2003, tthompson@data.org
UK – Katy Cronin, (011).44.(0).207.434.7550