Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International; Monday February 2 6:30 PM EST
Ed Susman, UPI Science News
Scientists say the decline can be traced to new drugs rather than preventative messages.
Terry Hammond, an HIV prevention specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, tells United Press International, ``The numbers of deaths from AIDS are decreasing, the number of new cases of AIDS are decreasing, but about 40,000 new HIV infections occur each year.''
In a report to the 5th Conference on Retrovirus and Opportunitstic Infections in Chicago, Dr. Kevin De Cock says deaths from AIDS fell from 21,460 in the first six months of 1996 to 12,040 deaths in the first half of 1997 _ a 44 percent drop.
De Cock says, ``We are at a very special moment in the epidemic of AIDS in the industrialized world. A new era in the AIDS epidemic has become apparent.'' However, he says, the epidemic still remains rampant in the developing world where 90 percent of AIDS cases exist.
The overall AIDS success in the United States is reflected in data reported by Mary Ann Chiasson of New York City's Department of Health. She says 7,000 people died of AIDS in 1995; that dropped to 5,000 in 1996 and has tumbled to 2,600 in 1997.
Despite the excitement due to the 64 percent decrease in AIDS deaths in the two-year period, Chiasson tells UPI the number of people living with AIDS in New York City has increased from 32,00 to 36,000 and an estimated 10,000 new HIV infections occur each year in the city.
De Cock says the decreases in mortality are almost exclusively the result of better treatments, and urges more work in preventing infections, especially targeting young men and minorities when AIDS continues to exist at disproportionate levels.
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