- Out of the 34 million HIV-positive people worldwide, 69 percent live in sub-Saharan Africa. There are roughly 23.8 million infected persons in all of Africa.
- 91 percent of the world’s HIV-positive children live in Africa.
- More than one million adults and children die every year from HIV/AIDS in Africa alone. In 2011, 1.7 million people worldwide died from AIDS.
- Since the epidemic of HIV/AIDS, more than 60 million people have contracted the illness, and over 30 million have died from an HIV-related cause.
- 71 percent of the HIV/AIDS-related deaths in 2011 were people living in Africa.
- Antiretroviral drug treatments can tremendously decrease the number of HIV-related deaths by delaying the progression of the virus and allowing people to live relatively healthy, normal lives.
- Due to an insufficient supply of antiretroviral drugs and health care providers in 2010, only 5 of the 10 million HIV-positive patients in Africa were able to receive treatment.
- Because of HIV/AIDs, the average life-expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa is 54.4 years of age. In some countries in Africa, it’s below 49.
- The HIV/AIDS epidemic has drastically slowed the economic growth and social development in Africa, because hundreds of thousands of people are unable to work or receive an education.
- Contraceptive use of condoms has doubled in recent years because it is an inexpensive provision to offer to both the HIV-positive and negative. However, the method is void when couples are hoping to conceive children or have already engaged with infected persons.
- If a pregnant woman is not treated with the proper antiretroviral drugs, there is a 20-45 percent chance that her infant will contract the virus from her during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding. Because 59 percent of HIV-positive people in Africa are women, the vast majority of children diagnosed with HIV have had the virus passed from their mothers.
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Sources: Amfar, Avert Statistics, Avert
