Aids Pandemic

UNAIDS and the WHO estimate that the total number of people living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus ('''HIV''') reached its highest level. There is an estimated 40.3 million (estimated range between 36.7 and 45.3 million) people now living with HIV. Moreover, almost 5 million people have been estimated to have been infected with HIV in 2005 alone.

The epidemic is not homogeneous within regions with some countries more afflicted than others. Even at the country level there are wide variations in infection levels between different areas. The number of people living with HIV continues to rise in most parts of the world, despite strenuous prevention strategies. Sub-Saharan Africa remains by far the worst-affected region, with 23.8 million to 28.9 million people living with HIV at the end of 2005, 1 million more than in 2003. Just under two thirds (64%) of all people living with HIV are in Sub-Saharan Africa , as are more than three quarters (77%) of all women living with HIV. South & South East Asia are second most affected with 15%.

The key facts surrounding the origin of AIDS are currently unknown, particularly where and when the pandemic began. The exceptionally high concentration of AIDS in Africa strongly suggests that continent as its starting point. For many reasons AIDS is believed to have originated only in the past hundred years. For example, the disease was never seen among the millions of people forcibly removed from Africa as Slaves before the 20th Century.

One currently controversial possibility for the origin of HIV/AIDS was discussed in a 1992 Rolling Stone magazine article by freelance journalist Tom Curtis. He put forward the theory that AIDS was inadvertantly caused in the late 1950's in the Belgian Congo by Hilary Koprowski 's research into a Polio Vaccine . Although subsequently retracted due to Libel issues surrounding its claims, the Rolling Stone article encouraged another freelance journalist, Edward Hooper , to travel to Africa for 7 years of research into this subject. Hooper's research resulted in his publishing a 1999 book '' The River '', in which he alleged that an experimental oral Polio Vaccine prepared using Chimpanzee kidney tissue was the route through which SIV mutated into HIV and started the human AIDS epidemic, some time between 1957 to 1959 . (See OPV AIDS Hypothesis .)

AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROBLEM

Source: UNAIDS and the WHO 2005 estimates. The ranges define the boundaries within which the actual numbers lie, based on the best available information. {Link without Title}

Global campaign

In the effort to fight against the AIDS pandemic, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), UNAIDS and other partners launch a global campaign, known as Unite For Children, Unite Against AIDS , to spur action for the millions of children affected by HIV / AIDS . Officials estimate that fewer than 5 percent of HIV-positive children are receiving treatment. {Link without Title}

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

is the hardest hit region, with adult prevalence rates exceeding 20% in most countries in the region, and even 30% in Swaziland and Botswana . Eastern Africa also experience relatively high levels of prevalence with estimates above 10% in some countries, although there are signs that the pandemic is declining in this region, notably in Uganda which previoulsy recorded one of the highest prevalence rates on the continent. West Africa on the other hand has been much less affected by the pandemic, several countries reportedly have prevalence rates around 2-3% and no country has yet rates above 10%, although in two of the regions most popolous countries, Nigeria and Côte D'Ivoire , between 5 and 7% of adults are reported to carry the virus. {Link without Title}

Across Sub-Saharan Africa, more women are infected with HIV than men, with 13 women living with HIV for every 10 infected men and the gap continues to grow. Throughout the region, women are being infected with HIV at earlier ages than men. The differences in infection levels between women and men are most pronounced among young people (aged 15–24 years). In this age group, there are 36 women living with HIV for every 10 men. The widespread prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Disease s, the practice of Scarification , Transfusion , and the poor state of Hygiene and Nutrition in Africa may all be facilitating factors in the transmission of HIV-1 in this region (Bentwich et al., 1995). In 2000, the World Health Organization estimated that 25% of the units of blood transfused in Africa were not tested for HIV, and that 5–10% of HIV infections in Africa were transmitted via blood {Link without Title} .

Poor economic conditions (leading to the use of dirty needles in healthcare clinics) and lack of Sex Education contribute to high rates of infection. In some Africa n countries, 25% or more of the working adult population is HIV-positive; in Botswana the figure was 35.8% (1999 estimate '' World Press Review ''), the highest reported infection rate in the world.

In South Africa , where President Thabo Mbeki has sown doubt about the connection between the HIV virus and AIDS - instead hinting at the possibility of e.g. undernourishment being one of the causes of the disease, the government does not require that AIDS cases be reported or collect information on the number of South Africans with AIDS. UNAIDS estimates that at the end of 2003 there were 5.3 million people in South Africa living with HIV — 21.5% of the population {Link without Title} .

Although HIV infection rates are much lower in , Zambia , Senegal , and most recently Botswana have begun intervention and educational measures to slow the spread of HIV, and Uganda has succeeded in actually reducing its HIV infection rate {Link without Title}
See Also: AIDS in Africa

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

The prevalence in this area is just 0.2% (0.1-0.7%), with between 230,000 and 1.4 million people infected. In this area, the routes of transmission of HIV is diverse, including paid sex, sex between men and injecting drug use. Among young people 15–24 years of age, 0.3% of women and 0.1% of men [0.1–0.3% were living with HIV by the end of 2004.

SOUTH AND SOUTH-EAST ASIA

The HIV prevalence rate across this region is very small (0.7%). However, due to the population size, a higher total of HIV infections (7.4 million adults and children) and annual AIDS deaths (480,000) occur in this region than any other region except sub-Saharan Africa. This sprawling region is not just vast but diverse, with the nature, pace and severity of HIV epidemics differing across the region. However, the AIDS picture in South Asia remains dominated by the epidemic in India. Latest estimates show that about 5.1 million people are currently infected with HIV in this country. In Asia, the HIV epidemic remains largely concentrated in Injecting Drug User s, Men Who Have Sex With Men , Sex Workers , and clients of sex workers and their immediate sexual partners. AIDS seems to be under control in Thailand and Cambodia , but new infections occur in those nations at a steady rate. Effective prevention strategies in these populations are, for the most part, inadequate.

EAST ASIA

), in absolute numbers. Large numbers of people live with HIV even in countries with relatively low HIV prevalence levels.]]
Compared with other continents, notably Africa, the national HIV prevalence levels in Asia are low (0.1% in the adult (15-49) group). However, due to the large populations of many Asian nations, this low national HIV prevalence still means that large numbers of people are living with HIV. The picture in this region is dominated by China, with HIV prevalent in all regions of China. Much of the current spread of HIV in China is through injecting drug use and paid sex. In China , the number was estimated at between 430,000 and 1.5 million, with some estimates going much higher. In the rural areas of China, where large numbers of farmers, especially in Henan province, participated in unclean Blood Transfusion s; estimates of those infected are in the tens of thousands. In Japan, HIV transmission is mainly among men who have sex with men, some of whom might also be transmitting the virus to female sex partners.

LATIN AMERICA

In this region, only , Brazil , Colombia and Argentina , drug injection and homosexual activity are the main modes of transmission, but there is concern that heterosexual activity may soon become a primary method of spreading the virus. Brazil accounts for more than a third of all HIV infections in Latin America, with the routes of transmission including paid sex, sex between men and injecting drug use. Brazil recently began a comprehensive AIDS prevention and treatment programme to keep AIDS in check, including the production of generic versions of anti-retroviral drugs.

CARIBBEAN

The Caribbean is the second-most affected region in the world. Among adults aged 15–44, AIDS has become the leading cause of death. The adult prevalence rate is between 1.1% and 2.7%. HIV transmission occurs largely through heterosexual intercourse, with two thirds of AIDS cases in this region attributed to this route. Sex between men is also a significant route of transmission, even though it is heavily stigmatised and illegal in many areas. HIV transmission through injecting drug use remains rare, except in Bermuda and Puerto Rico.

EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

There is also growing concern about a rapidly growing epidemic in Eastern Europe and Central Asia , where an estimated 0.99-2.3 million people were infected in December 2005, though the adult (15-49) prevalence rate is low (0.9%). The rate of HIV infections began to grow rapidly from the mid-1990s, due to social and economic collapse, increased levels of intravenous drug use and increased numbers of prostitutes. By 2004 the number of reported cases in Russia was over 257,000, according to the World Health Organization , up from 15,000 in 1995 and 190,000 in 2002; some estimates claim the real number is up to five times higher, over 1 million. There are predictions that the infection rate in Russia will continue to rise quickly, since education there about AIDS is almost non-existent. Ukraine and Estonia also had growing numbers of infected people, with estimates of 500,000 and 3,700 respectively in 2004. The epidemic is still in its early stages in this region, which means that prevention strategies may be able to halt and reverse this epidemic. However, transmission of HIV is increasing through sexual contact and drug use among the young (<30 years). Indeed, over 80% of current infections occur in this region in people less than 30 years of age.

WESTERN EUROPE

In Western countries, AIDS cases have fallen to levels not seen since the original outbreak; many attribute this trend to aggressive educational campaigns, screening of blood transfusions and increased use of condoms. Also, the death rate from AIDS in Western Europe has fallen sharply, as new AIDS therapies have proven to be an effective (if expensive) means of suppressing HIV.

In this area, the routes of transmission of HIV is diverse, including paid sex, sex between men, injecting drug use, mother to child and heterosexual sex. However, many new infections in this region occur through contact with HIV-infected individuals from other regions. The adult (15-49) prevalence in this region is 0.3% with between 570,000 and 890,000 people currently living with HIV. Due to the availability of antiretroviral therapy, AIDS deaths have stayed low since the lows of the late 1990s. However, in some countries, a large share of HIV infections remain undiagnosed and there is worrying evidence of antiretroviral drug resistance among some newly HIV-infected individuals in this region. Also, there has been a recent increase in risky behavior among men who have sex with men.

NORTH AMERICA

The adult prevalence rate in this region is 0.7% with over 1 million people currently living with HIV. In the United States, sex between men (35%), heterosexual sex (19%) and needle sharing by intravenous drug users (15%) remain prominent sources of new HIV infections {Link without Title} . Currently, rates of HIV infection in the US occur the most often on the eastern and southern regions, with the exception of " among those who have grown tired of and disillusioned with the unrelenting Safer Sex message. This trend is of major concern to public health workers.

In the United States in particular, a new wave of infection is being blamed on the use of took place in Salt Lake City in August of 2005.

On the other hand, as in Western Europe, the death rate from AIDS in North America has fallen sharply, as new AIDS therapies have proven to be an effective (if expensive) means of suppressing HIV.

OCEANIA

There is a very large range of national situations reagrding AIDS and HIV in this region. This is due, in part, to the large distances between the islands of Oceania. The wide range of development in the region also plays an important role. The prevalence is estimated at between 0.2% and 0.7%, with between 45,000 and 120,000 adults and children currently living with HIV.

FURTHER READING

AIDS epidemic update 2005

Specific country data from UNAIDS

The Origin Of AIDS - Tom Curtis' 1992 Rolling Stone article

The River - Edward Hooper's 1999 book

Information About

Aids Pandemic