Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Africa
AfricaWorld

New HIV Infection Rates Falling Dramatically in Africa

By | Published on January 15, 2013
CommentsComments (2) Add as a preferred source on Google i

The big drop in new HIV infections in Africa calls for celebration. However, advocacy groups are warning that it is too soon to proclaim total victory.

Africa Renewal Online reports on the fight to defeat the AIDS pandemic and highlights the hurdles on the way.

Africa is pulling out all the stops in its race to curb the AIDS pandemic by 2015, a deadline set by U.N. member states. From making anti-retroviral drug therapy (ART) readily available to the masses, to increasing consistent, correct condom use and voluntary medical male circumcision, everything has been tried and tested. And these efforts are paying off, according to the latest report of the Joint U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Africa has cut AIDS-related deaths by one-third in the past six years, the report says. Even countries with the highest HIV prevalence in the world have seen the number of new HIV infections decline dramatically.

Malawi has witnessed a 73 per cent drop in new HIV infections. Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe follow. South Africa managed to reduce new infections by 41 per cent. Even Swaziland – the country with the highest HIV prevalence in the world – saw new HIV infections drop by 37 per cent. Meanwhile, in other regions of Africa, Ghana topped the list, followed by Burkina Faso and Djibouti.

Leaders in Africa have been funneling money into their national AIDS programs. Last year alone, South Africa invested $1.9 billion from public sources for its national AIDS response. Kenya doubled its domestic investments for AIDS between 2008 and 2010, and Togo did the same between 2007 and 2010. International assistance has also been stable, with 26 of 33 countries in sub-Saharan Africa relying on donor support for their domestic programs.

The scaled-up response has been most effective in boosting the number of people on ART treatment and reducing the number of children born with HIV. Six African countries (Burundi, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Togo and Zambia) saw a 40 per cent reduction in the number of children who had been newly infected by the virus between 2009 and 2011. “It is becoming evident that achieving zero new HIV infections in children is possible,” says Michel Sidibé, the UNAIDS executive director. “I am excited that far fewer babies are being born with HIV. We are moving from despair to hope.”

Source: South Sudan News Agency

Subscribe To The ABS Newsletter — Get our stories in your inbox.

Independent journalism still matters.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Latest from Atlanta Black Star

Back to top