33.2 million is a lot of people

Last week, The Economist reported that, according to WHO and UNAIDS, the number of people infected with HIV worldwide fell from 39.5m to 33.2m over the course of this past year. And while that sounds like an awesome statistic (and it is, in many respects), the "drop" is actually due to a change in the statistical methods used by the aforementioned organizations. If you use the revised models with last year's data, last year's HIV total would have been 32.7m; in other words, there are 500,000 more cases this year versus last year.

But that is not necessarily a bad thing. Most people attribute the larger number to two things. First, more people are living longer with HIV and AIDS due to the availability of new treatments, and second, the number of new infections seems to be going down. In any case, there are a number of other statistics in the article that give cause for hope towards the ability for humankind to manage the disease (much like it manages other chronic afflictions like diabetes). Read the full article for more details:

WHO's counting?
by The Economist
November 22nd 2007

Still, the current treatments aren't perfect (nevermind a cure), and they don't work for everyone. So, research (for treatments) and education (for prevention) must continue. In fact, I was reminded of this earlier today by my mom, who mentioned that yesterday was World AIDS Day; it seems my sister (who works for the Peace Corps in western Kenya) had helped put on an educational event in her community for the occasion.

World AIDS Day has been observed every year since 1988 on December 1st. In some respects, this post is a day late.. but, as I mentioned, it is important that we're reminded of the issue once in a while, regardless of an "official", um, holiday. But beyond World AIDS Day, the US Department of Health and Human Services sponsors several "Awareness Days" throughout the year, each aimed at a different population; if you're interested, check out their full schedule of events.

Hopefully, the repercussions of HIV and AIDS aren't too close to home for you personally, but chances are, someone you know *is* affected on some level; 33.2 million is a lot of people. And in the global scheme of things, a scourge on such a large scale has secondary and tertiary effects that certainly affect our economy, our scientific research priorities, and, perhaps most sadly of all, our sense of personal "freedom".

With all of this in mind earlier today, I did what any American consumer would do: I bought a tshirt (with part of the proceeds going to AIDS research). Who's "doing their part" now? Oh man.. haha.