AIDS activists are pressuring federal officials to release a government study of annual HIV infection rates, which published reports have suggested may show that figures are up to 50 percent higher than current estimates (Bloomberg.com, 12/02).
Currently, it is estimated that there are about 40,000 new HIV cases a year. However, the government’s delay in releasing the data—officials say the new figures will be released early next year—has some AIDS activists worried that the CDC is trying to hide the fact that it has failed its 2001 pledge to cut HIV infections in half by 2005.
The debate surrounding potentially heightened U.S. figures comes just weeks after the United Nations lowered its estimate of the global number of people living with HIV by about 16 percent to 33.2 million.
CDC officials say that the agency is working to make sure that the figures are completely accurate before releasing them to the public.
“CDC is strongly committed to providing an accurate, timely picture of the domestic HIV epidemic, and we are moving as quickly as possible to complete, confirm and release these important new estimates,” Kevin Fenton, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's national AIDS center, said in the statement.
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