In February 1997, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a 12 percent decline in AIDS deaths over a 1-year period, the first drop in total deaths from AIDS in the United States. The decline was greatest in the West and Northeast, followed by the Midwest and South. By ethnicity, the drop was greatest among non-Hispanic whites and American Indians/Alaskan Natives. Deaths increased in women and persons infected heterosexually, but declined for men and other risk groups, such as men who have sex with men and injection drug users. France also reported a 25 percent reduction in AIDS deaths from 1995 to 1996, as well as a 21 percent decrease in diagnosed AIDS cases from the first to second half of 1996.