HIV Facts from Around the World

As the HIV epidemic continues for the most part unchecked in many regions, the numbers can be sobering. The HIV epidemic around the world looks much different than it does here in the US. Here is a collection of facts about the HIV epidemic. Interesting facts that gives you an idea of what HIV means to the people of the world.

• Worldwide, more than 80 percent of all adult HIV infections have resulted from heterosexual intercourse.

• Worldwide, approximately one in every 100 adults aged 15 to 49 is HIV-infected. In Sub-Saharan Africa, about 8.6 percent of all adults in this age group are HIV-infected. In 16 African countries, the prevalence of HIV infection among adults aged 15 to 49 exceeds 10 percent.

  HIV Around the World - South Africa

• Approximately 47 percent of the 34.3 million adults living with HIV/AIDS worldwide are women.

• An estimated 5.4 million new HIV infections occurred worldwide during 1999; that is, about 15,000 infections each day. More than 95 percent of these new infections occurred in developing countries.

• In 1999, more than 6,500 young people aged 15 to 24 became infected with HIV every day; that's about five every minute.

• Through 1999, cumulative HIV/AIDS-associated deaths worldwide numbered approximately 18.8 million; 15.0 million adults and 3.8 million children younger than 15 years.

• In 1999 alone, HIV/AIDS-associated illnesses caused the deaths of approximately 2.8 million people worldwide, including an estimated 480,000 children younger than 15 years.

• An estimated 13.2 million children younger than age 15 have lost their mothers or both parents since the epidemic began.

• Mother-to-child (vertical) transmission has accounted for more than 90 percent of all HIV infections worldwide in infants and children.

HIV Around the World - How HIV Differs From Country to Country