THERE ARE 34 MILLION HIV CARRIERS IN THE WORLD

"Cases of infection were reduced 21%, but the number of infected was fired by the lowest mortality rate. In 2010, there were 1.8 million deceased victims of the virus." The report of the United Nations programme for AIDS (UNAIDS), presented Monday in Berlin, reported major advances in the treatment of the disease. Between 1997 and 2010, cases of infection were reduced by 21 percent, while the number of new infections in children dropped from 550 to 390 thousand cases, and the number of deaths in children under 15 declined between 2005 and 2010 20%.

However, in the case of pregnant women, the figure was not encouraging: Although nearly half of pregnant women with AIDS received antiretroviral drugs to prevent infection of their babies, in 80% of cases the treatment was not successful.

UNAIDS also noted that there was a large growth in the number of persons infected with HIV, but it was clarified that this is not to have grown sick people, but that they received a better treatment which allowed to reduce the mortality rate. In this way, 34 million people live today, with the virus. In 2001, were 28.6 million.

The director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibe, stated that some 2.5 million deaths in poor countries and middle-income since 1995 with the introduction of drugs against AIDS and better access to them avoided. "We are on the brink of a major milestone in the AIDS response," he added in reference to the progress on treatments for immunodeficient disease.

According to the report, 68 percent of those affected is found in Africa, especially in the southern region of sub-Saharan Africa, which produces 70 percent of new cases of infection with the virus. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, also saw a significant rise in infections, with 1.5 million cases, concentrated mostly in Russia and Ukraine. In Western and Central Europe, the number reached 840 thousand.

In Latin America, the number of new infections annually, it was in decline since 1996, stabilised at beginning of Millennium and remains stable since then with 100 thousand patients per year. The report highlights Brazil "complete and early" respond to the epidemic, ensuring "the access to services for prevention and treatment of HIV for vulnerable and marginalized people".