Marking World AIDS Day, the U.S. government and the Global
Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today released their
annual anti-retroviral ( ARV) treatment numbers for 2005.

• Total people globally living with HIV/AIDs 40.3 million
• Total global new infections in 2005: 4.9m (still almost 13,500 per day)
• Deaths (global) in 2005: 3.1m (still approx 8,500 per day)

There are currently 40.3 million people worldwide living with
HIV/AIDS.  The numbers are staggering, but we’ve begun to make
progress with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)
which estimates that 400,000 people in 15 focus countries are being
provided life-saving ARVs. The Global Fund estimates that 384,000
people are receiving HIV/AIDS medicines as a result of their projects
in 130 countries around the world.  In total, WHO estimates more
than 1 million people are now on life saving ARVs- a tremendous
increase over just 400,000 in late 2003. But there is much further to
go if we are to keep our pledge to get 10m on ARVs by 2010!