Study charts AIDS progress

Cambodia’s decline in HIV/AIDS mortalities has made it a regional anomaly, according to a new study published today by a global health research centre at the University of Washington.

While HIV/AIDS remains a leading cause of disease burden in Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, and mortality rates have been increasing in Laos, the Philippines and Vietnam, deaths have dropped in Cambodia to record lows.

“The news is mainly good for Cambodia, where HIV/AIDS mortality has decreased by 86% since peak mortality rate in 2003. Although the disease is responsible for 1.5 percent of deaths and 1.6 percent of disease burden, HIV/AIDS currently ranks as the 16th leading cause of disease burden in Cambodia,” the report, published by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, says. …

While the report’s news is good, HIV has disproportional effects on certain age groups, cautioned Ortlblad. For example, mother-to-child transmission rates may have significantly declined, but HIV/AIDS remains the fourth-leading cause of health loss for the 25-29 and 30-35 age groups. …

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