Aids has claimed more than 25 million lives - UN

The global battle against HIV/Aids shows no sign of letting up a quarter-century into an epidemic that has claimed 25 million lives, the head of the UN's HIV/Aids joint programme said, while a report today showed that India now has the largest number of infections.

"I think we will see a further globalisation of the epidemic spreading to every single corner of the planet," UNAids head Dr Peter Piot said.

New data released today shows that India now has the largest number of people living with HIV/Aids. With an estimated 5.7 million infections, it has surpassed South Africa's 5.5 million.

But the epidemic still remains at its worst in sub-Saharan Africa, where per capita rates in several countries continue to climb - third of adults were infected in Swaziland in 2005.

UNAids today launched a 630-page report that takes stock of where the world currently stands with nearly 40 million people living with HIV/Aids.

It documents countries' progress and failures, and projects what must happen to keep some regions from experiencing disaster. The report was released a day ahead of a High Level Meeting on Aids in New York, a week prior to the 25 ^thanniversary of the first documented Aids cases on June 5th, 1981.

"It won't go away one fine day, and then we wake up and say, 'Oh, Aids is gone,'" Dr Piot said in a recent interview from Geneva.

"I think we have to start thinking about looking at the next generations. There's an increasing diversity in how the epidemic looks."

Piot said one of the most disturbing findings was how few babies are being protected against infection. Only 9 per cent of pregnant women in poor countries are receiving services, such as access to drugs, to help prevent mother-to-child transmission, despite a UNAids goal of 80% coverage.

"The thing I'm most disappointed with and surprised about is prevention of mother-to-child transmission," Dr Piot said. "For HIV, the coverage is still very low and we didn't meet the target. Here we have something that is non-controversial; it's about saving the babies."

Women's vulnerability to the disease continues to increase, with more than 17 million women infected worldwide - nearly half the global total - and more than three-quarters of them living in sub-Saharan Africa, the report found.

Agencies