HIV infection is the leading cause of death in women of reproductive age. (Photo Courtesy UNAIDS/P.Virot)

Abuja — A new data released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said new HIV infections had been reduced by 17 per cent in the last eight years.

According to the new data, "2009 AIDS Epidemic Update" new HIV infections had been reduced to 17 per cent in the past eight years.

Also, latest data on the Nigerian situation showed that there are 380,000 new infections, while the number of patients requiring anti-retroviral drugs was put at 833,000 with an annual HIV births of 56, 681 even as 2.9 million people are living with the disease.

According to the joint WHO/UNAIDS report, since 2001, when the United Nations Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS was signed, the number of new infections in sub-Saharan Africa is approximately 15% lower, which is about 400, 000 fewer infections in 2008.

The report, released yesterday by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO), noted that beyond the peak and natural course of the epidemic - HIV prevention programmes were making a difference.

"The good news is that we have evidence that the declines we are seeing are due, at least in part, to HIV prevention," said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS.

"However, the findings also show that prevention programming is often off the mark and that if we do a better job of getting resources and programmes to where they will make most impact, quicker progress can be made and more lives saved," he said.

A surveillance report conducted by the National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS (NACA) also showed that 2.2 million children are orphaned by the disease in Nigeria while 370,000 deaths are recorded annually.

More data from the AIDS Epidemic Update also revealed that at 33.4 million, 31.1 million-35.8 million more people living with HIV than ever before as people are living longer due to the beneficial effects of antiretroviral therapy and population growth.However, the number of AIDS-related deaths had declined by over 10% over the past five years as more people gained access to the life saving treatment.

UNAIDS and WHO estimate that since the availability of effective treatment in 1996, some 2.9 million lives have been saved.