New HIV infections down 33 percent since 2001 worldwide

NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- New HIV infections among adults and children worldwide are estimated at 2.3 million in 2012, a 33 percent reduction since 2001, U.N. officials say.

Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, said among children, new HIV infections among were reduced to 260,000 in 2012, a reduction of 52 percent since 2001.

The report from the Joint U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS showed dramatic acceleration towards reaching 2015 global targets on HIV. AIDS-related deaths also dropped by 30 percent since the peak in 2005 as access to anti-retroviral treatment expands, the report said.

By the end of 2012, some 9.7 million people in low- and middle-income countries were accessing anti-retroviral therapy, an increase of nearly 20 percent in just one year. In 2011, U.N. member states agreed to a 2015 target of reaching 15 million people with HIV treatment.

In 2012, an estimated 35.3 million people globally were living with HIV, 2.3 million people became newly infected with HIV, and 1.6 million people died from AIDS-related illnesses, the report said.

In addition, significant results were achieved toward meeting the needs of tuberculosis patients living with HIV, as TB-related deaths among people living with HIV have declined by 36 percent since 2004, the report said.

The report said donor funding for HIV remained around the same as 2008 levels. The total global resources available for HIV in 2012 was estimated at $18.9 billion, $3 billion-$5 billion short of the $22 billion-$24 billion estimated to be needed annually by 2015.