HIV/AIDS

GLOBAL HIV/AIDS

Since AIDS first emerged over twenty years ago, 25 million people around the world have died, 5 million of them children. Presently 38.6 million people are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Every passing year more than 6 million newly infected people are added to that total. That number is expected to increase with each passing year. As the number of people carrying HIV increases the likelihood of more people becoming infected grows -- it's simple mathematics. Over the next few years the death toll is expected to rise dramatically as the virus progresses unabated in millions of those living with HIV.

In developed high-income nations where health care, education and HIV medications are available, these statistics have in fact been decreasing. Massive early intervention campaigns targeting at-risk populations have been successful in substantially reducing transmission rates, although recent information suggests risk behaviors may be increasing in some communities. Effective medication therapies, although not a cure, have also substantially contributed to the reduction of HIV transmission and have improved the quality of life and survival rates of those living with AIDS.

For much of the world it has been a different story. Many countries have not been able to curb HIV transmission rates and in fact many developing low-income nations face ever-increasing infection rates. In sub-Saharan countries the rate of acquiring HIV is higher than ever before. In fact, of the 36.1 million people living with HIV, more than 70 percent live in sub-Saharan African. Thus far 17 million Africans have died of AIDS, 3.7 million of them children and an additional 12 million children have been orphaned. On the continent of Africa an estimated 1 in 10 adults is HIV positive; and in some countries the rate jumps to nearly 1 in 4. Although anti-retroviral medications have proved to be highly effective in reducing transmission rates of HIV and have dramatically improved the quality of life for many, these medications, at an average cost of US $10,000, are simply out of reach for most people living with HIV.

The toll for much of Africa has been devastating. Aside from the emotional impact, stigmatization and family tragedy which often accompany HIV, AIDS has profoundly impacted the economic, political and cultural structures of many countries. The majority of those infected with HIV are young adults. Traditionally this middle generation has been responsible for the care of the elderly and nurturing of the young along with charting the future course of their nations' development. With disability and death taking large numbers of this essential generation, the stability of entire societies is at risk. Families often lose their breadwinner, children lose their parents, family structures further unravel. Children must often care for their own dying parents and are then left on their own as support traditionally available from the extended family no longer exists. These children are at particular risk for malnutrition, illness, abuse and exploitation. With infrastructures crumbling around them, these children rarely have access to basic educational, social or medical services putting them further at risk to becoming the next generation to succumb to AIDS.