Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
BBC News - Thursday, November 27, 1997
The UN Aids programme's report finds the epidemic is far worse than previously thought, with 16,000 new infections a day.
It says one in every 100 sexually active adults worldwide is infected with HIV, but only one in 10 of them knows it.
Dr Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS, said: "The more we know about the Aids epidemic, the worst it appears to be."
He said public perceptions about the epidemic running out of steam were completely false.
"We are now realizing that rates of HIV transmission have been grossly underestimated -- particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where the bulk of infections have been concentrated to date," said Dr Piot.
The rate of 16,000 new infections a day was double what had been predicted.
In 1997, 5.8 million people contracted HIV, more than 500,000 of them children.
If the current transmission rates hold steady, by the year 2000 the number of people with HIV and full-blown Aids will soar to 40 million.
Meanwhile 2.3 million people died of Aids this year, UNAIDS estimates, a 50 per cent increase over 1996.
Nearly half the deaths were in women and 460,000 children under 15.
The report has been brought out to coincide with World Aids Day on December 1, which this year is focussing on the plight of children.
UNAids estimates 8.2 million children have been orphaned since the epidemic broke out. Nine out of ten infected people live in developing countries.
Estimates suggest sub-Saharan Africa may account for almost half of the HIV cases in the world.
But while the situation is bleak in the developing world, the number of people infected in the industrialised world is falling, thanks largely to the newly available antiretroviral drugs.
There has also been a dramatic surge in parts of Eastern Europe, with 100,000 new cases reported this year, largely attributable to drug abuse.
The UN says the findings reflect new research methods as well as an actual sharp climb in infecton.
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