HIV / AIDS

Introduction

According to the 2007 WHO/UNAIDS estimates, at the end of 2007, 33.2 million people were living with HIV. Some 2,5 million people became newly infected that year and 2.1 million died of AIDS, which maintains AIDS as a leading cause of death in Africa.

More than 95% of HIV infections are in developing countries, two-thirds of them in sub-Saharan Africa, where over 28 million people are living with HIV. While infection rates are lower in Asia and the Pacific, where over 7 million are infected, there is a risk that localized epidemics involving mainly high-risk groups could spark off major epidemics in some of the world’s most populous countries. The disease is having a major impact on social and economic development. Poverty is increasing in many countries as households lose one or more breadwinners to AIDS. And both public services and private companies are reeling from the impact of HIV-related sickness and deaths among their workforce.