Aids rates decline

LONDON: The global rate of HIV infection and the number of Aids-related deaths have been dramatically reduced, thanks to expanding access to treatment, the United Nations said yesterday. In its annual update on HIV, which it said now infects around 35.3 million people worldwide, Unaids said deaths from Aids and HIV infection rates were falling, while the number of people getting treatment is going up. Aids-related deaths in 2012 fell to 1.6 million, down from 1.7 million in 2011 and a peak of 2.3 million in 2005. And the number of people newly infected with the disease dropped to 2.3 million in 2012 down from 2.5 million in 2011. REUTERS