Global HIV/AIDS Response: Epidemic update and health sector progress towards Universal Access, Progress Report 2011

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This report reviews progress made until the end  of 2010 in scaling up access to health sector interventions for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support in low–and middle-income countries. It is the ? fth in a series of annual progress reports published since 2006 by the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), in collaboration with national and international partners, to monitor key components of the health sector response to the HIV epidemic.

The report reflects the commitment of United Nations Member States, civil society and United Nations agencies to ensure accountability for global progress in the response to HIV through regular monitoring and reporting. Since 2010 was the deadline established in 2005 for achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, this report also represents an important benchmark, an opportunity to take stock and identify both achievements and outstanding gaps and to take a constructive look forward in the response at this critical point in the response to the HIV epidemic.

The results of commitment, investment and collaboration over the past decade have translated into substantial improvements in access to evidenceinformed

HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment, care and support interventions in the health sector.

The key highlights of the report include the following:

• A total of 2.7 million people acquired HIV infection in 2010, down from 3.1 million in 2001, contributing to the total number of 34 million people living with HIV in 2010 (see Chapter 2).
• Access to HIV testing and counselling is increasing: coverage of HIV testing and counselling among pregnant women rose from 8% in 2005 to 35% in2010. Nevertheless, the majority of people living with HIV in low–and middle-income countries still do not know their serostatus (see Chapter 4).
• The number of health facilities providing antiretroviral therapy, a key indicator of expanded health system capacity to deliver treatment, expanded from 7700 in 2007 to 22 400 at the end of 2010, a threefold increase (see Chapter 5).
• Access to antiretroviral therapy in low–and middleincome countries increased from 400 000 in 2003 to 6.65 million in 2010, 47% coverage of people eligible to treatment, resulting in substantial declines in the number of people dying from AIDSrelated causes during the past decade (Fig. 1.1). Mounting scientifi c evidence suggests that increased access to antiretroviral therapy is also contributing substantially to declines in the number of peopleacquiring HIV infection.
• The number of children receiving antiretroviral therapy increased from 71 500 at the end of 2005 to 456 000 in 2010. Nevertheless, the 23% coverage of children is a substantial gap to the coverage of adults.
• Coverage of pregnant women receiving the most effective antiretroviral regimens to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV (excluding single-dose nevirapine) is estimated at 48% in 2010(see Chapter 7).