Morning Briefing

UNAIDS on Monday released its World AIDS Day Report 2011 (.pdf), "which shows more people than ever living with HIV, but deaths and new infections steadily dropping," the Guardian reports (Boseley, 11/21). The number of AIDS-related deaths in 2010 was 21 percent lower than its peak in 2005, and the number of new HIV infections in 2010 also was down 21 percent from its peak in 1997, according to the report, BBC News notes (11/21). The report credits more widespread treatment, behavior change and male circumcision for significant drops in the number of new cases, according to the Guardian (11/21). "Of the 14.2 million people eligible for treatment in low- and middle-income countries, around 6.6 million, or 47 percent, are now receiving it, UNAIDS said, and 11 poor- and mid-income countries now have universal access to HIV treatment, with coverage of 80 percent or more," Reuters notes, adding, "This compares with 36 percent of the 15 million people needing treatment in 2009 who got AIDS drugs" (Kelland, 11/21).