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10 Facts About AIDS

According to UNAIDS, AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and is the term used for advanced versions of the HIV infection. AIDS is such a dangerous condition because most people do not know when they have contracted it. There is currently no cure for AIDS, and millions of people have died from it.

  1. Total Deaths

    • AIDS was first identified in 1981 and more than 25 million people have died from it.

    Transmission

    • HIV can be transmitted through a variety of ways including unprotected penetrative sex with an infected person, transfusion of contaminated blood, use of contaminated needles or syringes, during childbirth or in pregnancy from an infected mother to a child.

    Antiretroviral Therapy

    • Antiretroviral therapy (ARV) has prevented many HIV patients from dying early and has significantly improved their quality of life. Antiretroviral therapy was first made available to the world in 1996.

    Side Effects of HIV Treatment

    • Side effects of ARV medicines can include nausea, headaches, vomiting and long-term changes in distribution of body fat.

    Total ARV Treatments

    • Close to three million people in lower to middle income countries were in the process of receiving ARV therapy at the end of 2007.

    PEP

    • PEP stands for post-exposure prophylaxis and is a set of steps used to prevent the infection of a person who thinks he was exposed to the HIV virus.

    HAART

    • According to WHO, HAART stands for Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy and is the term used for describing the combination and use of three or more anti-HIV drugs.

    Regional Women's Statistics

    • According to UNIFEM, approximately 60 percent of people living with AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa are women in 2007. In the United States, only 20.8 percent of people living with AIDS were women in 2007. These rates were also 54.2 percent in North Africa and the Middle East, 27.3 percent in East Asia, 30 percent in Oceania, 37 percent in South and South East Asia, approximately 31 percent in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 50 percent in the Caribbean and 32.3 percent in Latin America.

    Regional Death Rates

    • According to GlobalHealthReporting.Org, Sub-Saharan Africa had the most adult AIDS related deaths at 1.5 million people in 2007. Death tolls in other regions for 2007 include 340,000 in South\Southeast Asia, 58,000 in Eastern Europe\Central Asia, 63,000 in Latin America, 23,00 in North America, 40,000 in East Asia, 8,000 in West\Central Europe, 27,00 in South Africa\Middle East, 14,000 in the Caribbean and 1,000 in Oceania.

    African Amercans & HIV\AIDS

    • According to Balimngilead.org, there are 40,000 new cases of HIV each year and 50 percent of them occur among African Americans. Among African Americans, one in 50 men are HIV positive and one in 160 women are HIV positive.

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