World

AIDS Crisis Continues

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

November 28, 2000 / 2:27 PM EST / CBS

Tuesday's release of the annual AIDS Epidemic Update by the United Nations and WHO shows the global epidemic is far more extensive than what was forecast a decade ago. It is predicted that 5.3 million people will be newly infected with H.I.V. in 2000 and that 3 million will die of AIDS.

"The world clearly underestimated how rampant this epidemic would become," said Dr. Peter Piot, executive Director of UNAIDS, the U.N. agency tracking the global battle against AIDS.

More new HIV infections have occurred in Russia alone than in all previous years of the epidemic combined. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia a conservative estimate puts the number of those living with H.I.V. or AIDS at 700,000 compared with 420,000 in 1999. Socioeconomic instability has fueled drug use and commercial sex in these areas, increasing the spread of H.I.V.

AIDS in Africa

Click on these links to read more on one continent's battle against a devastating disease:

60 Minutes II Correspondent Ed Bradley has examined the epidemic in Africa for five months.

In South Africa, a problem grows.

U.S. Pastor On AIDS Crusade In Africa.

In Zimbabwe,a crisis worsens.

In Uganda, a leader creates hope.

The United Nations reports 19 million Africans have died from AIDS and 34 million are infected with HIV.

Africa has shown a slight decline in the number of new infections. However the report notes that this may be due to the fact that the epidemic has gone on for so long that it has already affected many of the people in the sexually active population, leaving a smaller pool of people still able to become infected. Africa is home to 70 percent of the adults and 80 percent of the children living with H.I.V. in the world, with over 25.3 million infected. "The AIDS situation in Africa is catastrophic," said Piot.

In South and South-East Asia an estimated 5.8 million adults and children have been infected with H.I.V. or AIDS. The region of East Asia and the Pacific is still keeping H.I.V. at bay in most of its population, but there is potential for catastrophe. Widepread drug use and the sex trade, combined with migration and mobility within and across borders could all combine to ignite a huge increase in infection.

In North Africa and the Middle East there are an estimated 400,000 living with H.I.V. or AIDS. The Caribbean has the highest H.I.V. rates in the world outside Africa. Western Europe and North America have seen a slightly higher rate of H.I.V. infections.

The report also warns that the world’s richest nations are becoming complacent about the world-wide epidemic as the availability of new drugs increases life spans. "It's very striking that in the wealthy countries there is a perception that AIDS is over – there is far less investment in education programs" notes Piot.

Chip Lewis of the Whitman-Walker Clinic in Washington, D.C. agrees. "H.I.V. and AIDS are no longer seen as a 'crisis' due to declining death rates," he told CBSNews.com. "However, these drugs are new and we don’t know what the impact of their long term use will be."

And while many pharmaceutical companies have agreed to sell anti-AIDS drugs at reduced prices to poor countries, there are still problems in distributing them to those most in need.

Says Piot, "The top priority remains prevention and the better job we do in terms of prevention, particularly among young people, the less people will have to be treated."