UN figures on HIV and AIDS
The annual United Nations figures on worldwide rates of HIV and AIDS were released in November 2007. They showed a marked decline in the number of people living with HIV worldwide, with the latest estimate down from 40 million to 33.2 million. But statistics show that most of the decline is the result of better data collection and subsequent lowering of estimates in six badly affected countries – Angola, India, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
Instead of fewer people succumbing to HIV and AIDS, the new figures suggest that fewer people were infected in the first place. Previously tests were based on pregnant women attending antenatal clinics, mainly in city locations. These tests were useful for tracking trends, but not for measuring the actual size of the epidemic.
Since 2000 a group of 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have conducted household surveys with HIV testing nationwide, including rural antenatal clinics. This wider data collection led researchers to discover that the prevalence of HIV infection was lower than previously thought.
Sadly some of this decline in prevalence can be attributed to high death rates due to lack of access to antiretroviral drugs, poor diet and poverty. This means they are unregistered in the overall number of people living with HIV and AIDS. Experts working with people affected by HIV and AIDS are concerned that the debate about statistics might distract from the urgency of tackling the epidemic which still claims many lives, especially in SSA where AIDS is still the primary cause of death.
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