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MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases |
Related Links
UNAIDS and WHO, AIDS epidemic update, 2009
Understanding the HIV estimates
UNICEF, UNAIDS, WHO and UNFPA, Children and AIDS: Fourth Stocktaking Report, 2009
UNAIDS, Monitoring the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS: Guidelines on construction of core indicators - 2010 Reporting,2009
Global and regional trends
The challenge
Some 33.4 million (31.1 million–35.8 million) people were living with HIV as of 2008; 2.1 million (1.2 million–2.9 million) of them were children under 15 years, and about 15.7 million (14.2 million–17.2 million) were women (see Global summary, below). Every day, over 7,400 persons become infected with HIV and about 5,500 persons die from AIDS, mostly because of inadequate access to HIV prevention care and treatment services. Globally, AIDS-related illnesses remain one of the leading causes of death and are projected to continue as a significant global cause of premature mortality in the coming decades.
Roughly 17.5 million (14.6 million–20.9 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 dropout, discrimination and loss of life opportunities. These hardships include illness and death. Of the estimated 2 million (1.7 million–2.4 million) people who died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2008, 280,000 (150,000–410,000) of them were children under 15 years old.
Note: The numbers in parentheses 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, 2009.
In 2008, around 430,000 (240,000-610,000) children were born with HIV, bringing to 2.1 million (1.2 million–2.9 million) the total number of children under 15 living with HIV. Almost 90 per cent of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa.
Children under 15 years living with HIV globally, 2008
Total: 2.1 million (1.2 million - 2.9 million)
Source: UNAIDS and WHO, AIDS Epidemic Update, 2009.
Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region most heavily affected by HIV, with southern Africa remaining the area most heavily affected by the epidemic. In 2008, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 67 per cent of HIV infections worldwide, 68 per cent of new HIV infections among adults and 91 per cent of new HIV infections among children. The region also accounted for 72 per cent of the world’s AIDS-related deaths in 2008. Most transmission in this region occurs in heterosexual relationships, both in the context of transactional and commercial sex and in longer-term relationships, including marriage.
As a contrast, in most other regions, HIV disproportionately affects injecting drug users, men who have sex with men, and sex workers. The epidemic is evolving, however, and national epidemics throughout the world are experiencing important transitions. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, epidemics that were once distinguished largely by transmission among injecting drug users are now increasingly characterized by significant sexual transmission. In parts of Asia, epidemics are more and more characterized by significant transmission among heterosexual couples. The epidemic in Asia, which has long been concentrated in injecting drug users, sex workers and their clients, and men who have sex with men, is steadily expanding into lower-risk populations through transmission to the sexual partners of those most at risk.
Click on the link to download regional HIV and AIDS statistics, 2008
Young people aged 15–24 years account for an estimated 40 per cent of new HIV infections worldwide. Globally, young women aged 15–24 years account for just over 65 per cent of all HIV infections. In sub-Saharan Africa young women aged 15–24 are more than two times more likely to be infected than their male counterparts. In only two regions – South Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean – are there more young men HIV positive than young women. This reflects the differences in risk behaviours, which requires that interventions be tailored to fit the nature and dynamic of the epidemic.
Click on the link to download statistics on HIV prevalence among young people by region, 2008
The ‘Four Ps’: Goal of the Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS Initiative
The Global Campaign, 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 effectively included in HIV and AIDS prevention, protection and treatment 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 AIDS.
In 2009, UNAIDS and WHO released new global HIV and AIDS estimates in the 2009 AIDS epidemic update, showing changes in the estimated number of persons living with HIV worldwide, new infections and in AIDS-related deaths. These estimates were derived from a more refined estimation methodology based on adjustments to mathematical models increasingly using new population-based survey data. Findings from these surveys, combined with data from an extended network of sentinel surveillance sites in a number of key countries, are also providing a greater understanding of HIV epidemiology. These advances are helping UNICEF to better monitor and care for the situation of children and adolescents.
As a result of these changes, comparisons between 2008 estimates and those from previous years cannot be made. The methodological revisions, however, have been applied retrospectively to all earlier HIV prevalence data, so that the estimates of incidence, prevalence and mortality from previous 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 for better quality information to strategically guide programming.
More details on the HIV estimates methodology can be found at the UNAIDS's website.
References
UNAIDS, Monitoring the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS: Guidelines on construction of core indicators, Geneva, 2009.
UNAIDS, Report on the global AIDS epidemic, Geneva, 2008.
UNAIDS and WHO, AIDS Epidemic Update, Geneva, 2009.
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 Special Edition: Celebrating 20 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, New York, 2009.
UNICEF, UNAIDS, WHO and UNFPA, Children and AIDS: Fourth stocktaking report, New York, 2009.
UNICEF, UNAIDS, WHO and UNFPA, Children and AIDS: Third Stocktaking Report, New York, 2008.
WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS, Towards Universal Access: Scaling up priority HIV/AIDS interventions in the health sector, Geneva, 2009.