| Last update: April 2008 |
 |
Combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Target: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV and AIDS |
UNAIDS and WHO, Aids Epidemic Update, Geneva, 2007
UNICEF, WHO and UNAIDS, Children and AIDS: Second Stocktaking Report, New York, 2008
UNAIDS, Monitoring the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS: Guidelines on Construction of Core Indicators: 2008 Reporting, Geneva, 2007
The Challenge
Some 33.2 million [30.6–36.1 million] people were living with HIV as of 2007; 2.1 million [1.9–2.4 million] of them were children under 15 years, and about 15.4 million [13.9–16.6 million] were women (see Global Summary, below). AIDS is among the leading causes of death globally and remains the primary cause of death in Africa. Every day, over 6,800 persons become infected with HIV and over 5,700 persons die from AIDS, mostly because of inadequate access to HIV prevention care and treatment services.
Roughly 15.2 million children under the age of 18 have lost one or both parents to AIDS, and millions more have been affected, with a vastly increased risk of poverty, homelessness, school drop-out, discrimination, and loss of life opportunities. These hardships include illness and death. Of the estimated 2.1 million [1.9–2.4 million] people who died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2007, 290,000 [270,000–320,000] of them were children under 15 years old.
| Global summary of the AIDS epidemic, 2007 | |
|---|---|
| Number of people living with HIV in 2007 | |
|
Total Adults Women Children under 15 years |
33.2 million [30.6–36.1 million] 30.8 million [28.2–33.6 million] 15.4 million [13.9–16.6 million] 2.1 million [1.9–2.4 million] |
| People newly infected with HIV in 2007 | |
|
Total Adults Children under 15 years |
2.5 million [1.8–4.1 million] 2.1 million [1.4–3.6 million] 420,000 [350,000–540,000] |
| AIDS deaths in 2007 | |
|
Total Adults Children under 15 years |
2.1 million [1.9–2.4 million] 1.7 million [1.6–2.1 million] 290,000 [270,000–320,000] |
Note: The numbers in brackets are ranges around the estimates that define the boundaries within which the actual numbers lie, based on the best available information.
Source: UNAIDS and WHO, AIDS Epidemic Update, 2007.
Regionally, sub-Saharan Africa remains the most affected region; 90 per cent of all HIV-positive children live there. Most transmission occurs in heterosexual relationships, both in the context of transactional and commercial sex and in longer term relationships including marriage. In the Caribbean, unprotected heterosexual intercourse is the main mode of HIV transmission, and young women are increasingly prone to infection. In several Latin American countries, the epidemic is centred on unprotected sex between men. In other regions of the world such as parts of Asia and Eastern Europe, transmission is primarily associated with injecting drug use and sex work.
Click on the link to download regional HIV and AIDS statistics, 2007
In sub-Saharan Africa young women are 3 times more likely to be infected than young men aged 15-24 years. In 4 regions—South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, East Asia and the Pacific, and Central and Eastern Europe/Central Asia—more young men are HIV positive then young women. This reflects the differences in risk behaviours, which require that interventions are tailored to fit the nature and dynamic of the epidemic in different regions.
Click on the link to download regional statistics on young people aged 15-24 years living with HIV
The ‘Four Ps’: Goal of the Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS Initiative
The Global Campaign on Children and AIDS, Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS, launched in October 2005, is a concerted effort by the international community to ensure that children and adolescents are included in HIV and AIDS strategies and become the central focus of these strategies. The campaign provides a child-focused framework for nationally owned programmes around four main areas, known as the 'Four Ps': 1)Prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV; 2)Provide paediatric treatment; 3)Prevent infection among adolescents and young people; and 4)Protect and support children affected by HIV and AIDS.
Advances in AIDS estimation methodology are helping UNICEF to better monitor and care for the situation of children and adolescents. In 2007, UNAIDS and WHO released new global HIV and AIDS estimates in the 2007 AIDS epidemic update, showing substantial changes in estimates of numbers of persons living with HIV worldwide and in AIDS-related deaths. The new estimates were derived from a more refined estimation methodology that reflects a greater understanding of HIV epidemiology through population-based surveys, extension of sentinel surveillance to more sites in relevant countries and adjustments to mathematical models because of better understanding of the natural history of untreated HIV infection in low- and middle-income countries.
As a result of these new estimations, differences in estimates between 2007 and previous years are not comparable and are, therefore, not related to trends over time. For example, it is inappropriate to draw conclusions by comparing 2007 estimates with those published in 2006. The methodological revisions, however, have been applied retrospectively to all earlier HIV prevalence data, so that the estimates of incidence, prevalence and mortality from earlier years allow an assessment of trends over time.
Although the estimates have changed, the qualitative interpretation of the severity and implications of the pandemic has altered little. However, as the resources committed to AIDS and other major health problems continue to increase, more emphasis is required to strengthen systems to collect and analyse data and to improve the quality of such data to strategically guide programming.
More details on the HIV estimates methodology can be found at UNAIDS's website.
References
UNAIDS, Report on the Global AIDS epidemic, Geneva, 2006.UNAIDS and WHO, AIDS Epidemic Update, Geneva, 2007.
UNICEF, Africa's Orphaned and Vulnerable Generations: Children affected by AIDS, New York, 2006.
UNICEF, Progress for Children: A World Fit for Children Statistical Review, No. 6, New York, 2007.
UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children 2008, New York, 2007.
UNICEF, UNAIDS and WHO, Children and AIDS: Second Stocktaking Report, New York, 2008.
UNICEF, UNAIDS and WHO, Children and AIDS: A Stocktaking Report, New York, 2006.
WHO, UNAIDS and UNICEF, Towards Universal Access: Scaling up priority HIV/AIDS interventions in the health sector, Geneva, 2007.