Since HIV was first documented in 1981, more than 20 million people— men, women and children—have died of AIDS. According to the United Nations Joint Programe on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), at the end of 2004, an estimated 39.4 million people around the world were living with HIV. This includes the 4.9 million people newly infected in 2004—roughly the same number of people living in the state of Colorado.
It's clear that the virus knows no boundaries or limitations: HIV has spread across the globe, devastating many people who were already grappling with inequality and poverty. About 95% of people with HIV/AIDS live in poor countries, where development progress is being reversed by the impact of the disease. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most affected region and is home to about 65 percent of the total number of people living with HIV worldwide. Second only to South Africa, India has an HIV-positive population of about 5.1 million.
Mercilessly, HIV/AIDS has a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable: women and children. Women, as a proportion of all adults living with HIV/AIDS, increased from 43 percent in 1998 to 48 percent in 2003, and the proportion continues to rise. Around the world, an estimated 7,000 women are infected with HIV everyday—the majority are young, school-age girls living in impoverished conditions.
The AIDS pandemic has robbed more than 14 million children worldwide of their families, their childhood, and all too often, hope for the future. According to UNAIDS, that's the equivalent of every child under five in America living without a mom or dad to care for them.
The impact of the epidemic is both all-encompassing and complex: HIV/AIDS doesn't just attack individuals, it rips apart families, uproots children and devastates communities. Teachers get sick and can't teach their students; mothers and fathers can't go to work and earn money to put food on the table; children must stay home to serve as caregivers for their family; stigma and discrimination isolate people at-risk of infection and those who are HIV-positive.
Without the availaility of a cure or viable vaccine, the HIV/AIDS pandemic will have claimed a total of 65 million lives by 2020. Through the Millennium Development Goals, the international community pledged to roll back the climbing rates of HIV by 2015; however, current estimates show that the rate is increasing in every part of the globe, including the United States. Despite advances in treatment, most people with HIV/AIDS can't afford medicine or healthcare, speeding the impact of the disease.
The international community must act without delay to halt the spead of the virus and in doing so, save lives, families, communities and entire countries from needless devastation.
Sources: UAIDS, Apathy is Lethal; World Bank
