ABSTRACT
According to Mann and colleagues,1 by 1992 164 countries had reported cases of AIDS to the World Health Organization WHO). In 2004 the Joint United Nations Programme on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS (UNAIDS) in its annual
AIDS Epidemic Update estimated that there were 39.4 million people living with HIV (37.2 million adults and 2.2 million children under 15 years), that 4.9 million people (4.3 million adults, 640 000 children) had become newly infected with the virus that year, and 3.1 million people (2.6 million adults, 510 000 children) had died that year from the disease (see Table 16.1).2 The greatest regional prevalence of HIV was in sub-Saharan Africa; although it has just 10 per cent of the world’s population, it was home to 60 per cent (25.4 million) of those living with HIV (Figure 16.1). While some countries such as Uganda had shown a decline in rates, there has been a marked increase in southern Africa. South Africa now has the highest number of people living with HIV in the world, with an
Adults and children Adult and child deaths Region living with HIV caused by AIDS
Sub-Saharan Africa 25.4 million 2.3 million Asia 8.2 million 540 000 Latin America 1.7 million 95 000 North America, West and Central Europe 1.6 million 23 000 Eastern Europe and Central Asia 1.4 million 60 000 Middle East and North Africa 540 000 28 000 Caribbean 440 000 36 000 Oceania 35 000 700
estimated 5.3 million by the end of 2003.2 Largely owing to AIDS, life expectancy at birth has dropped below 40 years in nine African countries: Botswana, Central African Republic, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.2 Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, women are disproportionately affected by HIV; on average there are 13 women living with HIV for every 10 infected men, and the gap between the genders is increasing.
