Health Care Article

WASHINGTON: US health authorities acknowledged on Saturday that they have substantially underestimated the number of new HIV infections in the country, in a study showing that the epidemic is worse than previously thought.

About 56,300 people were infected with the virus that causes AIDS in 2006, a figure 40% higher than the previous estimate of 40,000 new infections a year, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) said. “This new picture reveals that the HIV epidemic is – and has been – worse than previously known and underscores the challenges in confronting this disease,” Kevin Fenton, director of the CDC’s National Centre for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention.

The CDC said new technology allowed it to establish a more precise estimate of the epidemic. “These data, which are based on new laboratory technology developed by CDC, provide the clearest picture to date of the US HIV epidemic, and unfortunately we are far from winning the battle against this
preventable disease,” said CDC Director Julie Gerberding. “We as a nation have to come together to focus our efforts on expanding the prevention programmes we know are effective,” she said. The study found that the annual number of new infections was never as low as 40,000.

While new infections increased in the last 1990s, they have been roughly stable since then. “While the level of HIV incidence is alarming, stability in recent years suggests that prevention efforts are having
an impact,” said Richard Wolitski, acting director of the CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention.
The study also found that gay and bisexual men as well as African American men and women are the groups most affected by HIV. The new estimate found that 53% of new infections occurred in gay and bisexual men, while heterosexuals accounted for 31% of them and intravenous drug users for 12%.

African Americans, who make up 13% of the US population, accounted for 45% of the new infections in 2006. The infection rate among blacks was seven times higher than among whites – 83.7 out of 100,000 people compared to 11.5 out of 100,000. The study found some encouraging signs of progress
as new infections have dropped among both intravenous drug users and heterosexuals. – AFP

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