According to the latest figures published in the UNAIDS/WHO 2006 AIDS Epidemic Update, an estimated 39.5 million people are living with HIV around the world.

However in China, there are some examples of focused programs for sex workers that have seen marked increases in condom use and decreases in rates of sexually transmitted infections, and programs with injecting drug users are also showing progress in some regions.

There were 4.3 million new infections in 2006 with 2.8 million (65%) of these occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and important increases in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where there are some indications that infection rates have risen by more than 50% since 2004. In 2006, 2.9 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses.

New data suggest that where HIV prevention programmes have not been sustained and/or adapted as epidemics have changed-infection rates in some countries are staying the same or going back up.

According to the report, there is increasing evidence of HIV outbreaks among men who have sex with men in Cambodia, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam as well as across Latin America but most national AIDS programmes fail to address the specific needs of these people.