Rate of New HIV Cases Levels Off

Patients are living longer and there are fewer new cases in sub-Saharan Africa, but there's still a long, long way to go.

The world might seem like an awful, nearly inhospitable place these days, but that doesn't mean humanity's capable of genuine progress from time to time. Take, for example, this new UN report that shows the rate of new cases of HIV leveling off since 2007, with 2.7 million cases emerging each year. Before 2007, the number of new cases each year had grown from the year previous. In sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV rates are the highest, the number of new cases has fallen by 26 per cent since 1997. Granted, it's tough to say that 2.7 million new cases of the incurable virus is good news, but its spread appears to have been somewhat contained three decades after it was first discovered, and people with the virus are living longer than before as well. For example, 1.8 million people died due to HIV/AIDS in 2010, 100,000 fewer people than in 2009. The UN's goal of zero new infections, zero AIDS-related deaths, and zero discrimination against those with the virus remains a ways away, but baby steps, right?