UN To Report It Overestimated AIDS Cases By Millions

New York Times:

The United Nations' AIDS-fighting agency plans to issue a report today acknowledging that it overestimated the size of the epidemic and that new infections with the deadly virus have been dropping each year since they peaked in the late 1990s.

The agency, Unaids, will lower the number of people it believes are infected worldwide, to 33.2 million from the 39.5 million it estimated late last year.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[watchingthings]

06:17 PM on 11/20/2007

Maybe they hired Cheny to do the estimate for them. They wanted a high estimate so they could get more money. Cheney said "no problem" cooking up figures to come out the way I want is my specialty.

[1will]

01:44 PM on 11/20/2007

I wonder how much they've overestimated Global Warming.
Maybe they use the NASA method of taking temperature readings over asphalt.

[maxfusion]

12:50 PM on 11/20/2007

Overestimated?? Yeah right. All information from the UN must be taken with a grain of salt. Back to the drawing board Fat Al.

[RushLimbaughsPutz]

12:41 PM on 11/20/2007

There is no such thing as AIDS. It is a myth like Global Warming, Evolution, Chemistry, Biology, Physics and the New Math. See you in Church! Rush L

[kingcityguru]

12:32 PM on 11/20/2007

Sure they over-estimated that problem, but I am sure they got that global warmin thing nailed down!

[eastearll]

11:42 AM on 11/20/2007

Bad data from the UN? Better check those global warming warnings.

[raker]

10:47 AM on 11/20/2007

It's an irrelevant difference, 39 million or 33 million cases worldwide. Keep your condoms on. Don't be fooled by politics. We know AIDS is still here because - drum roll please - 33 million worldwide have AIDS. It's not cured and it's a hideous situation to live with.

We know that global climate change is real because the air's warmer, oceans are warmer, the Arctic is melting, towns are being submerged, animals are dying from loss of habitats, not to mention all the abberant biblical-type weather we get every season around here. Meteorologist Pat Robertson wants to blame it all on homasekshuls and jeYAYsus, but I suspect carbon emissions are the culprit.

[Aramingo]

10:37 AM on 11/20/2007

Whew, only 33 million cases. I thought for a while there that we had a real problem, what with 39 million cases. I can breathe easy now.

[Dendroica]

09:43 AM on 11/20/2007

Very hard to estimate when you have almost no public health infrastructure. Also hard, when so many countries intentionally undercount victims of the disease- I remember once reading the "official" toll in China was less than 1000! Bet it was 1000 times higher than that.

[WilliePilgrim]

09:25 AM on 11/20/2007

The UN can't win for loosin'. It readjusts its figures downward with improved statistical tools and it's accused of being incompetent and yet if it readjusted its figures (estimates really) upward it would be accused of fear mongering.
A very human predispositon to find fault with the messenger makes addressing real problems a lot tougher than they already are.

[ZenJu]

08:41 AM on 11/20/2007

Meanwhile, my public school is finding every reason it can to forbid my students from participating in fundraising for World AIDS Day---largely out of homophobia and fear of fundamentalist parents. Our world is sick and our species deserves whatever we do to ourselves. Maybe it's not so bad if wacky H. Sapiens goes extinct in its own fear and prejudices and some other creatures get a shot at enjoying Earth.

[CountryBeforeParty]

08:17 AM on 11/20/2007

Meanwhile, all you numbnuts...

Over 33 million people in the world are infected with AIDS!!!!!!!

Gee... pushing for more money to fight a worldwide epidemic, how evil. If that's what evil is, gimme the horns & pitchfork, and call me Satan.

[sonofdy1]

08:04 AM on 11/20/2007

I am suprised anyone would be suprised that the un is wrong. They are constantly wrong. Thier wrong reports is one of the reasons that lead to the Iraq war. This is the most corrupt organization on earth.

[Stevelagain]

08:02 AM on 11/20/2007

And if we freeze our behinds off this winter they will say: "Remember what we said about global warming....nevermind". Maybe the UN should stick to supporting socialism and communism and stealing food dollars from the sick and the poor....the stuff it does well.

[Americano]

06:56 AM on 11/20/2007

33 million only? Only 5.5 percent of the world's population? Yes I agree,definitely, reduce funding for aids programs around the world by US. We need the cash to fight terrorist in Iraq. Good thinking Dubya!