UN study shows AIDS infection rates continue at about 7,000 daily

June 5, 2011 – NEW YORK – About 7,000 people are being infected with AIDS each day and about half of the 34 million people with HIV do not know they have it, according to a UN report released to mark the disease’s 30th anniversary. The UNAIDS agency said more money, less waste and smarter programs are urgently needed to consolidate gains made in the war on AIDS and HIV. But UNAIDS said that about 34 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2010 and that nearly 30 million people have died from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS, in the past three decades. The rate of new infections of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS has declined. But the UN agency said “the total number of HIV infections remains high at about 7,000 per day.” UNAIDS also estimates that about half of those with HIV do not know they are sufferers. “It is a major problem, it is a major, major issue,” said Michel Sidibe, the executive director of UNAIDS at the launch of the “AIDS at 30: Nations at the Crossroads” report. –Terra Daily