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Is the end of AIDS in sight? Some facts about HIV/AIDS

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Is the end of AIDS in sight? Some facts about HIV/AIDS

An Indian couple walks past a sand sculpture on the eve of World AIDS Day, created by sand artist Sudarsan pattnaik on Golden Sea Beach in Puri, some 65 kms east of Bhubaneswar on November 30, 2015.

The member countries of the United Nations agreed in September in a new set of global goals to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

Published: Tue 1 Dec 2015, 8:26 AM

Updated: Tue 1 Dec 2015, 6:28 PM

  • By
  • Reuters

Despite major advances, HIV/AIDS remains one of the world's most significant public health challenges, particularly in low and middle income countries, with new diagnoses every year and young women in sub-Saharan Africa seen as being particularly at risk.
World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 is used to unite people in the fight against HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus first identified in 1984, to show their support for people living with HIV and commemorate those who have died.
The member countries of the United Nations agreed in September in a new set of global goals to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
Here are some facts about AIDS in 2015 with data from the World Health Organisation, the United Nations children's agency UNICEF, and UNAIDS:
Globally about 36.9 million people are living with HIV including 2.6 million children
An estimated 2 million were infected in 2014
An estimated 34 million people have died from HIV or AIDS, including 1.2 million in 2014

The number of adolescent deaths from AIDS has tripled over the last 15 years
AIDS is the number one cause of death among adolescents in Africa and the second among adolescents globally
In sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the highest prevalence, girls account for 7 in 10 new infections among those aged 15-19
At start of 2015, 15 million people were receiving antiretroviral therapy compared to 1 million in 2001

Despite widespread availability of HIV testing, only an estimated 51 percent of people with HIV know their status
The global response to HIV has averted 30 million new HIV infections and nearly 8 million deaths since 2000

In 2015, Cuba was the first country declared to have eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV



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