New UN Report Estimates Over One-Third of Todays 15-Year-Olds Will Die of AIDS in Worst-Affected Countries

major price differences to light and led to reductions through negotiations with pharmaceutical
companies.
* Inspired by Thailand's successful campaign, Cambodia launched a pilot programme in
Sihanoukville promoting "100% condom use" in commercial sex. In just two years, 65-75% of
male clients (military, police and motorbike taxi drivers) were reporting that they always used
condoms with commercial partners --up from less than 55% -- while similar high rates were
reported by brothel-based sex workers.
* Experience from Malawi and Uganda shows that micro-credit schemes can work very
successfully even in communities with high HIV prevalence. These schemes, which grant small
loans to individuals who want to start up a small business and who seem likely to be able to
repay, could play a greater role in alleviating poverty and mitigating the economic impact of
AIDS.
* Condom use for first intercourse has become impressively high in Brazil, where the
government has taken an active lead in HIV prevention, care and protection of the rights of
people affected by AIDS. In 1986 less than 5% of young men reported using a condom the first
time they had sex. The figure in 1999 was close to 50% -- and arniong men with higher
education, it was over 70%.
* In Zambia, new surveillance data from the capital Lusaka show that the proportion of pregnant
girls aged 15-19 infected with HIV dropped by almost half over the past six years. This holds
out hope that Zambia might follow the course charted by Uganda, where a decline in infection
rates in young urban women heralded the turnaround in the epidemic. Uganda's nationwide
rate of adult IV prevalence has now fallen to just over 8% from a peak of close to 14% in the
early 1990s.
"Achievements like these keep hope alive by proving that the world is not powerless against the
epidemic", said Dr Plot. "But up to now the gains have been scattered, not systematic, We need
an allout effort to turn the tide of the epidemic everywhere, with a massive increase in resources
from domestic budgets and international development assistance."
For more information, please contact Anne Winter, UNAIDS, Geneva, ([phone],
Dominique De Santis, UNAIDS, Geneva, ([phone] or Andrew Shih, UNAIDS, New York,
([phone]. You may also visit the UNAIDS Home Page on the Internet for more
infoirnation about the programme (http://www.unaIds.org).