New estimates show that least 56,000 people become infected with the AIDS virus every year in the United States — 40 percent more than previous calculations.The CDC stressed that actual infection rates have not risen but said better methods of measuring newly diagnosed infections and extrapolating these to the general population led to the higher estimates.
"The analysis shows that new infections peaked in the mid-1980s at approximately 130,000 infections per year and reached a low of about 50,000 in the early 1990s," it said.
Dr Kevin Fenton, who heads the CDC’s AIDS branch, said 15,000 to 18,000 Americans die every year of AIDS. "The data really confirm that there is a severe impact of this epidemic among gay and bisexual men in the United States … as well as black men and women.The president’s Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Relief or PEPFAR program signed into law this week is a USD 48 billion, five-year package to help treat and prevent AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria around the world.
Globally, 33 million people are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS and 2 million die of it each year.
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