Earlier today, UNAIDS released its 2008 report on the global AIDS epidemic. The report, which is published every two years, takes a detailed look at the state of the epidemic and progress towards scaling-up access to treatment, prevention and care around the world.

An important finding in this year’s report is that some progress is being made on the prevention side. BBC reports:

“The report says prevention programmes have seen changes in sexual behaviour, and a drop in infection rates in countries such as Rwanda and Zimbabwe. Condom use is also increasing among young people with multiple partners in many countries. This has been seen in seven of the most affected countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Uganda and Zambia…. The report also reveals that the percentage of HIV-positive pregnant women receiving antiretroviral drugs to prevent transmission of the virus to their child rose from 14% in 2005 to 33% in 2007.”

The report also found that expanded access to life-saving antiretroviral treatment is helping to reduce deaths. In 2007, the number of AIDS-related deaths dropped to 2 million, down from 2.2 million in 2005.

Stay tuned here for a closer look some of the report’s findings.

-Nora Coghlan