The Joint UN Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) has said global efforts to halt and reverse the spread of the virus are showing welcome results. The agency also said in a report that the number of people newly infected was declining and AIDS-related deaths were also falling.

It said that the report entitled, 'The Global AIDS Epidemic 2010', contained basic HIV data from 182 countries and country-by-country scorecards.

A statement on the report said an estimated 2.6 million people became newly infected with HIV, nearly 20 per cent fewer than the 3.1 million people infected in 1999.

'In 2009, 1.8 million people died from AIDS-related illnesses, nearly one-fifth lower than the 2.1 million people who died in 2004,' the report noted.

UNAIDS also said that the development was contributing to the stabilization of the total number of people living with HIV in the world.

It, however, said that much more still needed to be done, especially in light of reduced funding for the global response to AIDS.

According to him investments in the AIDS response are paying off, but gains are fragile and the challenge now is how everybody can all work to accelerate progress. According to the report, from 2001 to 2009, the rate of new HIV infections stabilized or decreased by more than 25 per cent in at least 56 countries around the world, including 34 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Of the five countries with the largest epidemics in the region, four countries, namely Ethiopia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, have reduced rates of new HIV infections by more than 25 per cent, while Nigeria's epidemic has stabilized.

It also disclosed that sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the region most affected by the epidemic with 69 per cent of all new HIV infections.

'In seven countries, mostly in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, new HIV infection rates have increased by 25 per cent. 'Among young people in 15 of the most severely affected countries, the rate of new HIV infections has fallen by more than 25 per cent, led by young people adopting safer sexual practices.'

The report also said that condom use and availability had increased significantly, noting that 11 countries including Burkina Faso, India and Peru had reported more than 75 per cent condom use at last higher-risk sex.

Also, data from 78 countries show that condom use among men who have sex with men was more than 50 per cent in 54 countries, it said. The report added that the use of condom by sex workers is also encouraging in 69 countries, as more than 60 per cent of sex workers used a condom with their last client.

The report said access to HIV prevention services, including harm reduction programmes for people who injected drugs, had reached 32 per cent, which was far short of what was needed to protect drug users from HIV worldwide.