CNN/AP: U.N.: 40m now have AIDS virus: Prevention starting to pay off

[DeepModem Mom]

U.N.: 40m now have AIDS virus
Prevention starting to pay off in some countries, report says
Monday, November 21, 2005


LONDON, England (AP) -- The global HIV epidemic continues to expand, with more than 40 million people now estimated to have the AIDS virus, but in some countries prevention efforts are finally starting to pay off, the United Nations says.

AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since it was first recognized in 1981, making it one of the most destructive epidemics in history. An estimated 3.1 million people died from the virus last year and another 4.9 million people became infected, according to a U.N. update published Monday....

***

However, for the first time there is solid evidence that increased efforts to combat the disease over the last five years have led to fewer new infections in some places, said UNAIDS chief Peter Piot.

Previously improvements had been seen in places such as Senegal, Uganda and Thailand...."Now we have Kenya, several of the Caribbean countries and Zimbabwe with a decline," Piot said....These are all countries that have invested heavily in safe-sex campaigns and other prevention programs, with the result that prevalence of HIV among the young has declined.

***

About 1 million HIV patients in the developing world now are on treatment. While that is just a small fraction of the people needing treatment, the availability of drugs has meant that people see a point to getting tested for the virus, which is crucial for prevention efforts....The epidemics continue to intensify in southern Africa. Growing epidemics are under way in Eastern Europe and in Central and East Asia. Five years ago, one in 10 new infections were in Asia. Today the number is one in four or five....


http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/conditions/11/21/un.aids.ap/index.html

[Fovea]

1. 'one of the most destructive epidemics in history'

On an individual level, AIDS is a horror.

But to put this in perspective.

Spanish flu killed somewhere between 30 and 50 million in a year, and this before air travel.

The black death (bubonic plague) killed a third of Europe in the 14th C.

Yes, without a doubt AIDS is a terrible disease, and we should be doing everything we can to stop it. But compared to say, smallpox, it is a very slow moving epidemic.

[still_one]

2. so the bush abstience program doesn't quite cut it

I lay this crap at the feet of this administration not funding prevention in many third world countries, because they wanted to use condoms as part of the solution

[applegrove]

3. Safe Sex - that means condoms. Someone show this to Bush.

[BlueInPhilly]

4. Hate to be a grammar 'ho

but "m" means thousands, "mm" means million. For a while there, I thought that was a good number (40,000). Okay, I'm done now.:hippie:

[DeepModem Mom]

5. Hi, BlueInPhilly -- welcome to DU!

I don't mind "grammar hoism" at all -- just relieved this was CNN's error, and not mine (I checked the link again to be sure).

[GliderGuider]

6. The newly accepted abbreviation for thousands is "K"

That comes from the computer world. From the same origin comes "M" for millions, as in "28.8 Kbps" for kilobits (or "thousands" of bits) per second, or "1 MB" meaning one megabyte or one "million" bytes). The older M and MM come of course from Roman numerals.

This new usage has become extremely common, even though it is imprecise. K and M come from the binary world, so "K" technically refers to 1024 (2^10) rather than 1000, and "M" refers to 1,048,576 (2^20 or 1024^2) rather than 1,000,000.

Rather than play King Canute with language, I'm inclined to accept the usage...

[Brooklyn Michael]

7. Now just imagine....

...how many lives could've been saved through prevention, education and awareness had Ronald Reagan addressed the problem when it first broke, instead of sweeping it under the rug because it was a "gay" disease.

It's reminders like this that make me recall why I first rejected conservative policies and republican "leadership" in the early 80's when I was just becoming a teenager and starting to comprehend the world around me.

Unforgivable bastard. Hot enough down there for you, Ronnie?
:grr: :evilgrin: :grr:

[SoCalDem]

8. "...The epidemics continue to intensify in southern Africa..."

Africa is a continent awash with riches..Once it's rid of those pesky people who live there, it will be easy-pickins'..Anyone who thinks that *² cares one iota about the AIDS crisis muct be smokin' something.

The right wingers have no interest in saving anything except Africa's natural resources. the poor people who live there are a liability..not an asset..

It's nothing personal..It's just raw capitalism at work.

AIDS will work its way from country to country and the ones who do manage to get drugs and live longer will continue to spread the diease because lots of the people there are not that educated.

As the middle aged/young people die off, there will be few left to educate the young/raise them/care about them. They will be left to fend for themselves, and care for the elderly. There will always be someone around to continue to spread AIDS..

Any who manage to make it past adolescence will probably end up militarized.

I fear for Africa.. It would be such a shame for the true cradle of civilization to be exterminated..