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Men's Health, Third Edition

HIV infection and AIDS

Publication ,  Chapter
Moon, AM; Bartlett, JA
January 1, 2009

While remarkable therapeutic advances have prolonged the lives of many people infected with HIV, the HIV pandemic continues to expand, particularly in the most impoverished regions of the world. By the end of 2005, there were approximately 40 million people living with HIV or AIDS worldwide, of which 21.8 million were adult males (Fig. 20.1). In 2006 alone, 4.3 million adults were newly infected with HIV. In many regions, young people (15-24 years old) seem to be making up a larger proportion of these new infections. Young people accounted for 40% of all the new HIV infections in adults (older than 15) in 2006. 1 In 2006 there were an estimated 2.6 million deaths directly attributable to AIDS. 1 According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), in high-income countries in the West (including the USA, western Europe, and Japan), approximately 1.4 million people are now living with HIV/AIDS and an estimated 30 000 people died as a result of AIDS in 2006 alone. However, in the USA and western and central Europe, the introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has dramatically reduced HIVAIDS-related mortality (Fig. 20.2). 2 In a recent study performed on the impact of AIDS treatment, researchers concluded that per-person survival benefits in the USA had increased from 18.5 months in 1996, when combination ART was initially available, to 93.7 months in 2006. 1 Another study concluded that ART has saved at least 3 million life years in the USA. 3 The impact of ART in the USA is also reflected in the number of AIDS deaths; in 1995, before widespread combination ART was available, there were over 50 000 estimated AIDSrelated deaths, but in 2005 this number had dropped to 17 000. 2 In recent years, the availability of these medications has also risen in low-and middle-income countries. The number of people receiving ART in low-and middle-income families increased from 240 000 to over 1.3 million between 2001 and 2005. This expanded access to medications has been estimated to have prevented between 250 000 and 350 000 AIDS deaths in the period 2003-2005. 1 Despite the reduction in the number of AIDS cases due to antiretroviral medications and opportunistic infection prophylaxis, the number of people living with HIV continues to rise steadily and ART is available to only one in five people who need it globally.

Duke Scholars

ISBN

9780415447331

Publication Date

January 1, 2009

Start / End Page

252 / 272
 

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Moon, A. M., & Bartlett, J. A. (2009). HIV infection and AIDS. In Men’s Health, Third Edition (pp. 252–272).
Moon, A. M., and J. A. Bartlett. “HIV infection and AIDS.” In Men’s Health, Third Edition, 252–72, 2009.
Moon AM, Bartlett JA. HIV infection and AIDS. In: Men’s Health, Third Edition. 2009. p. 252–72.
Moon, A. M., and J. A. Bartlett. “HIV infection and AIDS.” Men’s Health, Third Edition, 2009, pp. 252–72.
Moon AM, Bartlett JA. HIV infection and AIDS. Men’s Health, Third Edition. 2009. p. 252–272.
Journal cover image

ISBN

9780415447331

Publication Date

January 1, 2009

Start / End Page

252 / 272