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 Where did this epidemic come from? And, where is it going? You find some of the answers here. Read also about discrimination against people living with AIDS, abuse of women and girls, powerlessness, poverty, and family breakdown – these are all aspects of the epidemic.  |
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| Children left orphaned by AIDS in Gdansk, Poland. Photo: UNAIDS/WHO. | |||||
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Since the first HIV case 20 years ago, over 60 million persons have been infected, and over 20 million have already died from AIDS. In Africa, there are an estimated 11,000 new infections per day, and during 2001 approximately 2.3 million Africans will die from HIV/AIDS. In several Caribbean countries, HIV/AIDS has become a leading cause of death. Haiti and the Bahamas are especially hard hit. Eastern Europe – especially the Russian Federation – continues to experience the fastest-growing epidemic in the world. |
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Currently, there are approximately 14 million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, with a projection of 40 million children by 2010 if no action is taken. With each minute that passes, another African child dies of AIDS. About one-third of those currently living with HIV/AIDS are aged 15-24. Most of them do not know they carry the virus. Many millions more know nothing or too little about HIV to protect themselves against it. In sub-Saharan Africa, the economic hardships of the past two decades have left three-quarters of the continent's people surviving on less than US $2 a day. Seven million farm workers have died from AIDS-related causes since 1985 and 16 million more are expected to die in the next 20 years. The prospect of widespread food shortages and hunger is real. In 1999 alone, an estimated 860,000 children lost their teachers to AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. Were it not for HIV/AIDS, average life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa would be about 62 years; instead, it is now 47 years. Test your knowledge about the AIDS pandemic.  |
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 PDF format. Get the free Adobe Acrobat PDF reader Letter to U.S. President George Bush Signed by partner organizations of the Global AIDS Alliance Abuja Declaration on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Other Related Infections By the Heads of State and Government of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Members of the US House and Senate Call for Emergency Funding In December, 2001 nearly 99 members of Congress wrote to President Bush urging him to support providing $1 billion in emergency funds to fight the global AIDS pandemic. HIV/AIDS: Does it Increase or Decrease Growth in Africa? By René Bonnel, ACTAfrica Children on the Brink: Strategies to Support Children Isolated by HIV/AIDS From Synergy AIDS Org. Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS From the United Nations General Assembly |