HOW BAD IS THE SITUATION?

IN THE WORLD

Despite some signs of progress in the fight against the disease, AIDS remains the fourth largest killer worldwide and the leading cause of premature deaths in sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, more than 23 million people have lost their lives around the world since the epidemic started in 1981. In addition to the personal suffering that comes with HIV infection, the epidemic threatens to reverse decades of economic development and progress toward a healthier and bright future.

The 2005 UNAIDS/WHO report indicates that the overall number of people living with HIV in the world has reached the highest level ever with an estimated 40.3 million people; more than 3.1 million died of AIDS-related causes in 2005, including an estimated 570, 000 children. In 2005, an additional 5 million people were newly infected, more than half of them young people aged 15-24.

IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

In sub-Saharan Africa, the most affected region in the world, AIDS epidemics continue to worsen. This region houses an estimated 25.8 million people living with HIV which is more than 60% of all the people living with HIV virus in the world at the end of 2005. In just that year, there were an estimated 3.2 million new infections, while more than 2.4 million adults and children died of AIDS.

HOW SERIOUS IS HIV/AIDS FOR CHILDREN?

HIV & AIDS lead the way as a threat to children and their families in the world. Children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS include the ones who have hill parent, are orphans, are discriminated against because of a family member's HIV status or who have HIV themselves.

Among youngsters aged 15-24, an estimated more than 1.7 million people were living with HIV in 2005. According to various surveys (2000-2004), in every group of 4 young people living with HIV, there were 3 young women for 1 young man. These trends illustrate that more than 66% of young women lacked comprehensive knowledge about HIV transmission and that an average 20% of young men were more likely to have better knowledge than young women.

Persistent under-reporting and misclassification have made it difficult to know the true extent of HIV/AIDS among children residing in Africa. Furthermore, the cultural factor is often a problem and must be addressed; for example, children who seem to be low-risk may be at risk because of unacknowledged risk behavior among their partners such as having more than one sex partner at the same time.

There is a real need of education and prevention to counteract the factors that contribute to young women's vulnerability and risk; indeed, because there is no cure for AIDS, prevention is fundamental; millions of young people know too little about HIV to protect themselves.

As epidemic advances the number of children who have been orphaned by AIDS escalates. In sub-Sahara Africa, more than 12.8 million children have been orphaned by AIDS. As HIV-positive parents become ill and die from AIDS, orphan population increases in sub-Sahara Africa. Some countries in Africa face rising danger of explosive growth of infection. In fact, the percentage of pregnant young women aged 20-24 living with HIV in Cameroon had more than doubled to over 11% between 1998 and 2000. This points out how quickly the epidemic can rise.