According to estimates from the UNAIDS/WHO AIDS Epidemic Update (November 2007), around 30.8 million adults and 2.5 million children were living with HIV at the end of 2007.Globally, around 11% of HIV infections are among babies who acquire the virus from their mothers; 10% result from injecting drug use; 5-10% are due to sex between men; and 5-10% occur in healthcare settings. Sex between men and women accounts for the remaining proportion – around two thirds of new infections.
Around half of the people who acquire HIV become infected before they turn 25 and typically die of the life-threatening illnesses called AIDS before their 35th birthday. By the end of 2005, the epidemic had left behind 15.2 million AIDS orphans, defined as those aged under 18 who have lost one or both parents to AIDS. These orphans are vulnerable to poverty, exploitation and themselves becoming infected with HIV. They are often forced to leave the education system and find work, and sometimes to care for younger siblings or head a family.
In 2007, around 420,000 children aged 14 or younger became infected with HIV. Over 90% of newly infected children are babies born to HIV-positive women, who acquire the virus during pregnancy, labour or delivery, or through their mother's breast milk. Almost nine-tenths of such transmissions occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Africa's lead in mother-to-child transmission of HIV is firmer than ever despite the evidence that HIV ultimately impairs women's fertility; once infected, a woman can be expected to bear 20% fewer children than she otherwise would. Drugs are available to minimise the dangers of mother-to-child HIV transmission, but these are still often not reaching the places where they are most needed.
Future projections of the extent of the HIV/AIDS epidemic cannot be made with any precision; what happens next will depend on what action is taken. In some scenarios, governments and societies mount a very vigorous and wide-ranging response which recognises AIDS as much more than just a health issue, and so HIV prevalence eventually decreases; in other projections, good intentions fail to deliver anything more than short-term and fractured responses in the worst-affected countries, and the number of people living with HIV soars.1
What are needed to turn the tide are massive responses at the national and international level:
People need to challenge the myths and misconceptions about human sexuality that translate into dangerous sexual practices.
Work and legislation is needed to reduce prejudice felt by HIV+ people around the world and the discrimination that prevents people from "coming out" as being HIV positive.
HIV prevention initiatives need to be increased, people across the world need to be made aware of the dangers, the risks, and the ways they can protect themselves.
Condom promotion and supply needs to be increased, and the appropriate sexual health education needs to be provided to young people before they reach an age where they become sexually active.
Medication and support needs to be provided to people who are already HIV+, so that they can live longer and more productive lives, support their families, and avoid transmitting the virus onwards.
Support and care needs to be provided for those children who have already been orphaned by AIDS, so that they can grow up safely, without experiencing poverty, exploitation, and themselves falling prey to HIV.
Sources: http://www.avert.org/worlstatinfo.htm
http://www.nat.org.uk/
