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ADDIS ABABA (September 18th, 2006) - This sixth edition of the “AIDS in Ethiopia” report includes the estimates and projections based on the Antenatal (ANC)- based Sentinel Surveillance Survey of 2005. In the 2005 ANC-based HIV surveillance round, HIV testing was performed on left-over blood collected for routine syphilis testing in an anonymous and unlinked fashion. Data and specimens were collected from 44 rural and 38 urban sites.
The estimated national HIV prevalence in 2005 was 3.5% (3% among males and 4% among females). The estimated prevalence in urban areas was 10.5% and in rural areas 1.9%. In Ethiopia, the urban prevalence appears to have stabilized in the period 1996 to 2000 and is slowly gradually declining since 2001. The rural epidemic stabilized after reaching its highest level during 1999-2001. The overall HIV prevalence for Ethiopia has stabilized with the number of people newly infected and dying being almost equal.
In 2005, it was estimated that a total of 1,320,000 people were living with HIV/AIDS. Of the total, 634,000 were living in rural areas and 686,000 in urban areas. It was estimated that in 2005, a total of 137,500 new AIDS cases, 128,900 new HIV Infections (353 a day) including 30,300 HIV positive births, and 134,500 (368 a day) AIDS deaths (including 20,900 in children (<15 years) occurred. It was estimated that there were a total of 744,100 AIDS orphans ages 0-17. HIV/AIDS accounted for 32% of the estimated 141,000 of TB cases. The estimated total number of persons requiring ART in 2005 was 277,800 (including 43,100 children). AIDS accounted for an estimated 34% of all young adult death 15-49 in Ethiopia and 66.3% of all young adult deaths 15-49 in urban Ethiopia.
In conclusion, the ANC-based HIV Sentinel Surveillance results show that the national and rural HIV prevalence for Ethiopia has stabilized while the urban epidemic reveals a slow and gradual decline following peaks in prevalence in 1998-2000 for national, 1999-2001 for rural, and 1997-98 for urban areas. These findings can be a result of multiple factors including improved ANC-based sentinel surveillance system; impact of mortality of HIV infected individuals; and HIV/AIDS control and mitigation efforts. It is impo