Did You Know?
FACTS AND STATISTICS ABOUT HIV & AIDS
- HIV infection rate is down 33 percent worldwide since 2001
- AIDS-related deaths have also dropped 30 percent since 2005, when the highest mortality rates were recorded.
- There are currently 35.3 million people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS, according to the most recent data from the World Health Organization.
- Scientists have identified more than 60 different strains of the HIV 1 virus, with each type typically found predominantly in a specific region of the world.
- One of every 120 adults between 15 and 49 years of age worldwide is HIV-positive.
- One new HIV infection occurs every 6 seconds of every minute of every day.
- World-wide, only one in ten persons infected with HIV has been tested and knows his/her HIV status.
- Ninety-six percent of people with HIV live in the developing world, most in sub-Saharan Africa. The epidemic continues to grow in this region
- In 2005, there were 4.9 million people newly infected with HIV; of these new infections, 700,000 occurred in children under the age of fifteen.
- In the United States, over 40,000 people are infected with HIV every year.
- AIDS is the number one cause of death for African American women aged 25 -34.
- In 2005, HIV/AIDS related illnesses caused the deaths of 3.1 million people worldwide.
- In 2005, 5 million new HIV infections occurred worldwide; approximately 14,000 every day.
- Globally, women represent half of all people living with HIV/AIDS.
- African American women accounted for 67% of estimated AIDS cases in 2004, but only 13% of the U.S. female population.
- Latinas accounted for 15% of estimated AIDS cases, and 14% of the U.S. female population.
- Since the mid eighties, the proportion of AIDS cases among women has more than tripled, from 7% in 1985 to 27% in 2004.
- In 2004, the rate of AIDS diagnoses among African American women was 23 times higher than that of their white female counterparts.
- About two-thirds of all people estimated to be living with HIV reside in sub-Saharan Africa.
- The number of HIV-positive people in Eastern Europe increased 25% over the last year to 1.6 million.
UNAIDS, AIDS Epidemic Update, December 2005, UNAIDS
Western Europe and North America remain the only regions in the world where most people in need of antiretroviral treatment are able to get it.
- Eighty percent of new HIV infections in women world-wide occur in marriages or long-term relationships with primary partners.
- Barely 2% of the U.S. budget for HIV/AIDS research ? only two cents of every dollar ? is spent on microbicide research.
- Of new infections among women in the U.S., approximately 70% were infected through heterosexual sex and 28% were infected through injection drug use.
- Scientists are developing and testing topical microbicides that women could apply before intercourse to protect themselves against HIV and other sexually transmitted organisms.
Global Campaign for Microbicides, About Microbicides, March 2006, GCFM
The risk of HIV transmission from mother to newborn is less than 2% if women receive a combination of antiretroviral therapies during pregnancy.
- The CDC estimates as many as 1.185 million HIV-positive individuals live in the U.S. Of these, between 25 -30% do not know they are infected.
- The estimated annual number of AIDS-related deaths in the U.S. declined nearly 70% since 1995, largely due to the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy.
- Seven of ten states with the highest AIDS case rates among women are located in the South.
- Washington, DC has the highest AIDS case rate among women, twelve times the national average.
- In the United States, teen girls account for half (50%) of all HIV cases reported among those ages 13-19.
- AIDS occurs at a rate five times higher in state and federal prisons than among the general U.S. population.
Information provided on this website is for educational purposes only. It is designed to support, not replace, personal medical care and should never be used as a substitute for personal medical attention, diagnosis, or hands-on treatment. We recommend all medical decisions be made in consultation with your personal health care provider.
