According to UNAIDS, about 39.5 million people are living with HIV at the moment, of whom 37.2 million are adults, and 2.3 million are children under 15. 4.3 million people have become newly infected this year so far, of whom 530,000 are children under 15. About 2.9 million people have died of AIDS this year so far.

63% of all adults and children living with HIV in the world today live in Sub-Saharan Africa (almost 25 million people). 34% of all deaths due to AIDS occur in southern Africa. Although there are some indications that parts of Sub-Saharan Africa are seeing slight falls in the number of newly infected people, it is still too early to tell whether we are seeing the beginning of a fall in the region. Zimbabwe is the only country in southern Africa to report a decline in HIV prevalence.

In Swaziland, it is estimated that one in every three adults is living with HIV. 35% of women attending clinics in South Africa were found to be living with HIV. HIV infection numbers among pregnant women in South Africa seem to be stabilizing, but continue to grow among older women.

The epidemic in Latin America appears to be stabilizing. Infection rates among injecting drug users and men who have sex with men continues to be high throughout most of the continent.

In the USA, racial and ethnic minorities have disproportionately higher rates of HIV infection. The percentage of people living with HIV in Canada is much higher among its Aboriginal people.

In North America, Central and Western Europe, the main risk factor for HIV infection continues to be unprotected sex between men. Three-quarters of HIV infections among heterosexual people in Western and Central Europe are among migrants and immigrants.

The epidemic in Central Asia and Eastern Europe continues to grow, especially in the Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

Unprotected paid sex and protected sex between men have kept infection numbers high in South-East Asia. Outbreaks among men who have sex with men are evident in Cambodia, India, China, Pakistan, Thailand, Nepal and Viet Nam. Pakistan and Afghanistan are seeing outbreaks among injecting drug users.

The epidemic has risen and fallen in different parts of India. China is seeing an increase in the number of infections among women.

“AIDS Epidemic Update – UNAIDS and The World Health Organization”
Click here to see the whole 96-page report (pdf)

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today