by Maja Wallengren
MEXICO CITY, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- As people around the world prepare to mark World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, official statistics show that Latin America has made great progress in stopping the spread of the deadly disease.
In Latin America, the number of new infections among children under 15 is declining, and an average 54 percent of pregnant women living with HIV, the virus that can develop into AIDS if left untreated, are receiving anti-retroviral drugs to avoid infecting their unborn children.
Currently, the overall HIV prevalence in South and Central America is estimated at about just 0.5 percent.
In the Caribbean, both the HIV virus and those living with AIDS have maintained a very low presence compared with most other regions in the world, with just 0.1 percent HIV prevalence in Cuba and 3.1 percent in the Bahamas.
But officials said that the fight against AIDS must continue as the number of AIDS deaths has not gone down yet.
"In Central and South America, the number of deaths has stabilized, but there is no indication yet of decline," a regional spokesman of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said.
From 1.1 million 10 years ago, the number of HIV-positive people has risen to about 1.4 million in Latin America.
A total of 92,000 new cases were reported in the region in 2009, while 58,000 people died of AIDS the same year.
In Mexico alone, an estimated 220,000 people were living with HIV in 2009. The number of newly infected HIV patients was between 8,800 and 21,000, and AIDS deaths were estimated between 9,880 and 15,000.
The recent surge in drug-related violence has a negative side effect on the country, leading to an increase in the number of narcotics abusers, according to a UNAIDS report.
While the number of drug abusers is insignificant compared with other countries like the United States, "there is a notable burden of infection among injected drug users," the report said.
One major improvement in Mexico's fight against drugs, however, is the President Felipe Calderon administration's new national "Seguro Popular" public health insurance, which has helped extend universal health coverage to the majority of the country's population.
"When I first found out (I was HIV-positive), I thought I was going to die, but thanks to the Seguro Popular, I have been able to receive the medicine that I need in order to be able to live with HIV," said Angel Morales, a 22-year-old man who was infected with HIV at a tattoo clinic when he was just 16.
Meanwhile, the social stigma against HIV patients is still the focus of public campaigns in Latin America.
"Social stigma, however, has kept many of these epidemics among men who have sex with men hidden and unacknowledged," UNAIDS said in its report, adding that the stigma is also directed against sex workers and their clients.
From Mexico City's red light districts to the border town of Tijuana, organizers said tens of thousands of activists will take to the streets to campaign for more openness about AIDS.
On Thursday, Morales will help other volunteers from the Friends United Against AIDS, a civic group in Mexico, distribute condoms and pamphlets about the disease in a large campaign in the Mexican capital.
By launching campaigns, the volunteers hope that citizens can learn more about the risk of AIDS, how to avoid being infected with HIV, and what it means to live with the disease.
"At first, I didn't tell anyone," Morales said, referring to the strong stigma that is still present in most Latin America nations.
But Morales said that thanks to public campaigns such as World AIDS Day, "today things are improving, and we see people starting to be more open about this disease."
Special Report: World AIDS Day 2011
