Two million people get HIV annually, says UNAIDS

The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS has said that no fewer than two million people are infected with HIV annually.

The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Mr. Michel Sidibé, told newsmen at a press briefing ahead of the World AIDS Day on Thursday.

“Since 2010, there have been no declines in new HIV infections among adults. Every year since 2010, around 1.9 to 2.2 million adults have become newly infected with HIV,” he said.

Sidibé said that in Western and Central Africa, there were about 6.7 million people living with HIV in 2015.

“Women account for nearly 60 per cent of the total number of people living with HIV in Western and Central Africa.

“In 2015, there were an estimated 410,000 new HIV infections in Western and Central Africa,” the UNAIDS chief said.

According to him, in Western and Central Africa, 330,000 people died of AIDS-related causes since 2015.

He added that there were 66,000 new HIV infections among children in the two sub-regions in 2015.

He, however, said that there had been a 31 per cent decline in new HIV infections among children in the sub-regions since 2010.