HIV/AIDS: A Global Epidemic
The HIV/AIDS epidemic remains a global health challenge of unprecedented dimensions and a monumental threat to development progress.
Exacting a High Price in Developing Countries
In 2008, there were more than 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS around the world, the vast majority in developing countries and about half of them women.1
That same year, there were an estimated 2 million deaths and 2.7 million new infections, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa.2
Sub-Saharan Africa continues to disproportionately bear the global HIV/AIDS burden. Two-thirds of all people newly infected with HIV live in that region, and nearly three-quarters of all AIDS deaths occur there.
Spread of HIV/AIDS Outpaces Treatment Advances
The epidemic’s expansion continues to outpace the world’s response to it, even with a 10-fold increase in antiretroviral treatment made available in low- and middle-income countries from 2003-2008.
For every two HIV-positive people placed on ARV therapy, there are an estimated five people who are newly infected with HIV.
Notes
12008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, UNAIDS, 2008
2 2009 AIDS Epidemic Update, UNAIDS/WHO