HIV/AIDS Facts at a Glance

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, has brought about a global epidemic far more extensive than what was predicted even a decade ago. UNAIDS and WHO now estimate that the number of people living with HIV or AIDS at the end of the year 2000 stands at 36.1 million. This is more than 50% higher than what WHO’s Global Programme on AIDS projected in 1991 on the basis of the data then available. The following is a list of facts were taken from the HIV/AIDS Epidemic Update December 2000 report by UNAIDS:

• Global summary of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Worldwide, 36.1 million people are infected with HIV/AIDS, including 1.4 million children. The incurable disease has claimed 21.8 million lives since the epidemic began, 4.3 million of them children. In 2000, 5.3 million people became newly infected with HIV/AIDS and 3 million people died of AIDS. (Source: Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS, World Health Organization, HIV/AIDS Epidemic Update, December 2000 report.
• Trends in the developing world. For the first time, there are signs that HIV incidence – the annual number of new infections – may have stabilized in sub-Saharan Africa. New infections in 2000 totaled an estimated 3.8 million, as opposed to a total of 4.0 million in 1999. However, if HIV infections start to explode in countries that have had relatively low rates up to now, such as Nigeria, regional incidence could start rising again. Out of the 25.3 million people living with AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, 55% of the infected adult population are women. (Source: Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS, World Health Organization, HIV/AIDS Epidemic Update, December 2000 report.
• Adverse trend among women. This year's regional HIV/AIDS statistics reveal percentages of HIV-positive adult population who are women are 55% in Sub-Saharan Africa, 40% in North Africa and Middle East, 35% in South and South-East Asia, 13% in East Asia and Pacific, 25% in Latin America, 35% in the Caribbean, 25% in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 25% in Western Europe; 20% in North America and 10% in Australia and New Zealand. (Source: Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS, World Health Organization, HIV/AIDS Epidemic Update, December 2000 report.
• Men make a difference. The theme of this year’s World AIDS Campaign - recognizes men’s enormous potential to make a difference when it comes to curbing HIV transmission, caring for infected family members, and looking after orphans and other survivors of the epidemic. Altogether, an estimated 2.5 million men aged 15-49 became infected during 2000, bringing the number of adult males living with HIV or AIDS at year’s end to 18.2 million. (Source: Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS, World Health Organization, HIV/AIDS Epidemic Update, December 2000 report.

* For more information, contact: Cecilia Snyder of the Communications Consortium Media Center (CCMC)