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MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases |
Related Links
UNAIDS, Report on the global AIDS epidemic, 2008
UNICEF, UNAIDS, WHO and UNFPA, Children and AIDS: Third Stocktaking Report, 2008
UNAIDS, Monitoring the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, 2007
Global and regional trends
The challenge
Some 33 million [30–36 million] people were living with HIV as of 2007; 2 million [1.9–2.3 million] of them were children under 15 years, and about 15.5 million [14.2–16.9 million] were women (see Global summary, below). Globally, AIDS is among the leading causes of death globally and has already caused an estimated 25 million deaths. 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.
Roughly 15 million [13-19 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 million [1.8–2.3 million] people who died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2007, 270,000 [250,000–290,000] of them were children under 15 years old.
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, Report on the global AIDS epidemic, 2008.
Global estimates show that the number of children living with HIV continues to increase steadily. From 2001 to 2007, the number of children living with HIV increased from 1.6 million [1.4–2.1 million] to 2 million [1.9–2.3 million]. Almost 90 per cent of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa.
Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region most heavily affected by HIV, accounting for 67 per cent of all people around the world living with HIV and for 75 per cent of AIDS deaths in 2007. 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 virtually all other regions, HIV disproportionately affects injecting drug users, men who have sex with men (MSM), and sex workers.
Children living with HIV globally, 1990–2007
I This bar indicates the range around the estimate
Source: UNAIDS, Report on the global AIDS epidemic, 2008
Click on the link to download regional HIV and AIDS statistics, 2007
Young people aged 15–24 account for an estimated 45 per cent of new HIV infections worldwide. In sub-Saharan Africa young women aged 15-24 are 3 times more likely to be infected than their male counterparts. 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 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, 2007
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 2007, UNAIDS and WHO released new global HIV and AIDS estimates in the 2007 AIDS epidemic update, showing substantial changes in the estimated number of persons living with HIV worldwide 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 2007 estimates and those from previous years can not 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 UNAIDS's website.
References
UNAIDS, Report on the global AIDS epidemic, Geneva, 2008.UNAIDS and WHO, AIDS Epidemic Update, Geneva, 2007.
UNAIDS, Report on the global AIDS epidemic, Geneva, 2006.
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, WHO and UNFPA, Children and AIDS: Third Stocktaking Report, New York, 2008.
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.