World continues 'enormous progress' against AIDS

Kim Painter | Special for USA TODAY

The world has made "enormous progress" against AIDS, with global HIV infection rates and AIDS deaths continuing to fall, says an annual report on the epidemic from the United Nations.

Increases in global spending and effective treatment are making a difference, the report says. But it also says much remains to be done, with more than 35 million people living with HIV and "disturbing signs" of increasing sexual risk behaviors among young people in some countries.

Stigma, discrimination and "punitive laws" also continue to keep many people at high risk from getting help, the report says.

Among the latest numbers, from 2012:

2.3 million people worldwide were newly infected, down from 2.5 million in 2011 and 3.4 million in 2001, a drop of 33%. The largest number of new infections, 1.6 million, occurred in sub-Saharan Africa; about 48,000 occurred in North America.

1.6 million people died of AIDS, down from a peak of 2.3 million each yearbetween 2004 and 2006. About 1.2 million of those deaths were in sub-Saharan Africa; 20,000 were in North America.

9.7 million people in low- and middle-income countries got effective antiviral treatment, a 20% increase in just one year.

The official U.N. goal is to treat 15 million people in those countries by 2015, but that's not good enough, says Michel Sidibé, executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. The world should "ensure no one is left behind," he said in a statement.

Spending on HIV and AIDS reached nearly $19 billion in 2012. The report says at least $22 billion will be needed each year by 2015.