AIDS kills 2,608 Cambodians in 2011

Cambodia estimated that about 2, 608 people were killed by HIV/AIDS in 2011, a decrease of 11 percent from 2,943 people in a year earlier, Dr. Teng Kunthy, secretary general of National Aids Authority (NAA), said Thursday. He said among the 2,608 deaths last year, some 2,484 were over 15 years old and 124 were children, whilst in 2010, among the 2, 943 deaths, 2,783 were over 15 years old and 160 were children. He continued to say that the last year's new infection rate was also declined by 12 percent to 1,517 people including 191 children from 1,726 people including 256 children in a year earlier. "We see a good result in our efforts to fight against HIV/AIDS; however, we still not satisfy with it and hope to see further decline in years to come," he told Xinhua. Currently, an estimated 75,000 Cambodian people in 60,000 households are living with HIV/AIDS, according to a 2011's survey on the Socioeconomic Impact of HIV in Cambodia conducted by the United Nations Development Program. About 96.7 percent of them have received antiretroviral therapy. The impoverished Southeast Asian nation needs about 58 million U.S. dollars a year to fight against HIV/AIDS, said Dr. Kunthy. More than 90 percent of the fund comes from external donors.