HIV/AIDS
More than 40 million people worldwide are infected with HIV, 95% of whom live in developing countries. An estimated 10 million of these are young people aged 15-24. In 2004, approximately five million people were newly infected with the virus. HIV/AIDS has so far killed more than 20 million people worldwide, with over three million people dying of AIDS-related causes in 2004 alone. AIDS is the leading cause of death in Africa and the fourth-leading cause of death worldwide. One in every 150 people worldwide is HIV positive, and experts predict the disease is nowhere near its peak. Since it was first reported in the 1980s, it has become the world's most devastating disease. But HIV/AIDS should be a preventable and manageable condition.
HIV
HIV stands for
human immunodeficiency virus
. HIV is a retrovirus that destroys or impairs the function of the immune system, making the body much more vulnerable to a wide range of infections.
At first the HIV infection does not cause any initial symptoms, but an HIV-infected person is highly infectious and can transmit the virus to another person. The only way to determine whether HIV is present in a person's body is by taking an HIV test. But most people worldwide have no access to testing and do not know whether or not they have HIV.
HIV can be found in body fluids such as blood, semen, vaginal fluids and breast milk. HIV is transmitted through penetrative and oral sex; blood transfusion; the sharing of contaminated needles in health care settings and through drug injection; and, between mother and infant, during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.
AIDS
AIDS stands for
acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
and describes the collection of symptoms and infections associated with acquired deficiency of the immune system. Infection with HIV has been established as the underlying cause of AIDS. The level of HIV in the body and the appearance of certain infections are used as indicators that HIV infection has progressed to AIDS. With a healthy lifestyle, the time between infection with HIV and becoming ill with AIDS can be 10-15 years, sometimes longer. Antiretroviral therapy can slow down the progression of AIDS by decreasing viral load in an infected body.
Treatment
There is no cure for HIV/AIDS. Progression of the disease can be slowed down but cannot be stopped completely. The right combination of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs can slow down the damage that HIV causes to the immune system and delay the onset of AIDS. However the vast majority of people living with HIV/AIDS in the developing world do not have access to treatment. In these countries, only about 5% of those in need are receiving anti-retrovirals, while there is near universal access to effective treatment in richer countries. The high cost of the medicines, inadequate health care infrastructure and lack of financing has prevented wide use of combination ARV treatment. It has been estimated that a total of US$7-10 billion a year is needed from all sources to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in poorer countries.
Aids orphans
AIDS is responsible for leaving vast numbers of children without one or both parents. By 2003 15 million children under 18 had been orphaned by HIV/AIDS worldwide. About 12 million of these live in sub-Saharan Africa, and it is expected that this number will have risen to more than 18 million by 2010. Extended families and communities are feeling the huge burden of having to take on the care of so many young orphans. As well as the issues losing a parent has for any orphan, such as the loss of economic support and physical care, and the grief of a parent dying, there is the added issue of the stigma attached to losing a parent to AIDS.