Int Conf AIDS 1996 Jul 7-12; 11:208 (abstract no. Th.16) Adjorlolo G; Projet RETRO-CI, Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. Fax: 225-24-29-69. E-mail: gxa7@ivorycoast.em.cdc.gov.
Each day, several thousand persons in the world become infected with HIV, with a majority of these new infections occurring in Africa and Asia. For the first time, however, there are glimmers of hope that the HIV/AIDS pandemic can be controlled. Declining infection rates, and increasing rates of safer sexual practices among young adults and commercial sex workers have been observed in Uganda, Thailand, and other severely affected countries. Although further studies are necessary to confirm that these declining trends are a direct result of increased safe sexual practices, these results suggest that a strong commitment to AIDS prevention efforts can have a positive impact. Encouraging developments have also occurred in the research arena. A study in the United States and France demonstrated that zidovudine during pregnancy was effective in reducing the rate of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and efforts are now underway in developing countries to identify simpler yet effective regimens to prevent this mode of transmission. A large-scale, community based STD treatment program in Tanzania dramatically reduced the incidence of HIV infection, while in the United States and Nepal, needle exchange programs and other risk reduction interventions have decreased HIV incidence among injecting drug users. Although these examples are encouraging, they remain isolated successes that need to be expanded and sustained for decades in order to reverse the trend of the AIDS pandemic.
Keywords: AEGIS, HIV Infections, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Needle-Exchange Programs, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Zidovudine, Prostitution, Anti-HIV Agents, Incidence, Developing Countries, Uganda, Tanzania, Africa, United States, Thailand, France, Asia, Nepal, Adult, Child, Human, Female, Pregnancy, nursing, transmission, ICA11
