HIV and AIDS facts and figures in Dance4Life countries

Below you will find facts and figures on the HIV and AIDS status in Dance4Life countries. (UNAIDS 2007)

Germany

• In 2007 in Germany there were approximately 49,000 people living with HIV.
• Around three quarters of people living with HIV are male, the other one quarter female. The majority of new infections are caused by unprotected sex. There is a decline in the practising of safe sex, although the number of people living with HIV in Germany is growing.

Ireland

• The number of people living with HIV in Ireland in 2007 was 5,000, of which 1,800 were female.
• The Irish lead singer of U2, Bono, has done much in pushing back HIV and AIDS and bringing attention to the problem of HIV in our world today. He launched the RED campaign to raise money for the cause.

Kenya

• Even though there are 1.3 million people living with HIV in Kenya, meaning that they are still contending with a serious AIDS epidemic.
• But there is good news: Kenya is one of the few countries that show a decline in the adult HIV infection rates. This is due to factors such as behavioural changes like an increase in the use of condoms, fewer sexual partners and the delay of first sexual intercourse.
• There is also a decline in HIV prevalence among pregnant women, by more than 25% with young pregnant women in both urban and rural areas.
  

Mexico

• Mexico has an estimated 180,000 people living with HIV, with rates rising in the rural areas.
• Although the government is willing to endorse sexual and reproductive health programmes, such as Dance4Life, there are conservative parts of the population (both religious and non-religious) that do not endorse such programmes. The government wanted to put condom machines in high schools, but the church is against it.
• In August 2008 the 2008 AIDS International Conference, the largest conference about HIV and AIDS in the world, is taking place in Mexico City. This will bring help attract a lot of attention from the media and government in Mexico to the subjects of HIV and AIDS.

Moldova

• In 2006 it was estimated that 29,000 people were living with HIV in Moldova, with the number of infections amongst are women increasing.
• In 2001 only 19% of new infections were due to sexual intercourse, but in 2006 the rate was up to 60%, with the stigmatization of people living with HIV contributing to the spread, as it makes both men and women less responsible for their sexual health.
• Injecting drug use is also a factor in new infections in Moldova.

The Netherlands

• There are around 18,000 people in the Netherlands living with HIV.
• 40% of people living with HIV are heterosexual
• Every week two young people become infected with the AIDS virus and two people die of AIDS each week.
• AIDS is no longer a deadly disease in the Netherlands, but it is a chronic illness with which you can grow reasonably old. Living with HIV however remains difficult due to the taboos and discrimination surrounding HIV and the side effects from the medicines.
  
  

Nigeria

• HIV and AIDS are a growing menace in Nigeria. 2.9 million people are living with HIV, the largest number outside of South Africa and India.
• Without urgent action this number may more than double by 2010.
• Less than 20% of children receive any schooling about HIV and AIDS.
• There are already 1 million AIDS orphans and this may reach 3 million by the end of the decade. A significant national response was slow to develop, and fear, stigma, and discrimination against people living with HIV are high.
• However on World AIDS Day 2006, the President took steps to ensure that all Nigerians know their HIV status by formally launching the National Counselling and Testing Programme, and set an example by being tested himself.
  

Russia

• 75% of new infections are young people. It is the biggest HIV epidemic in Europe.
• There were an estimated 940,000 people living with HIV there in 2007. The majority of these infections are among injecting drug users, although there is clear evidence of a significant rise in heterosexual transmission.
• After the collapse of communism and with high-youth unemployment, the explosion of injecting drug-use became the main mode of HIV transmission.

Serbia

• Serbia belongs to the countries of low HIV and AIDS prevalence, with around 10,000 people living with HIV.
• However there is a threat of HIV spreading there. There is: sustained social and economic crisis; high levels of poverty and unemployment; a breakdown in the social safety net and provision of basic health and social services; injecting drug use.
• In Serbia, approximately 45% of all people infected by HIV are between 15 and 29 years of age. Since people are not accustomed to HIV testing, HIV infection is often discovered in the later stages of infection (often after they developed AIDS).

Sierra Leone

• The first case of HIV in Sierra Leone was reported in 1987, and now there are 48,000 people living with HIV.
• Through war, poverty and illness (such as HIV) the average age has dropped to 38.
  

South Africa

• In South Africa 5.5 million people were living with HIV in 2007
• This means 1 in 5 adults and 1 in 4 children are infected.
• Every day, 1,700 people acquire HIV and 600 die of AIDS-related illness. Almost half of these deaths are caused by tuberculosis (TB). It is a generalized epidemic, affecting all segments of society.
• The situation is most criticical in the province Kwazulu Natal. Dance4Life South Africa is based in Durban, one of the main cities of that province. Like in other sub-Saharan African countries, the epidemic affects women the most. Young women (15-24) are an unbelievable four times more likely to be HIV infected than young men are. And HIV is still on the increase in South Africa.
• The social impact of HIV and AIDS is far wider than only death. The hardship for those infected and their families begins long before they die, with the stigma related to suspected infection, the fear and despair that often follows diagnosis, the loss of income and support when a breadwinner or caregiver becomes ill, the diversion of household resources to provide care, the terrible burden upon family members, particularly children caring for terminally ill parents, and the trauma of bereavement and being orphaned.

Tanzania

• An estimated 1.4 million people in Tanzania are living with HIV, making it one of the most affected countries in the world.
• There are 1.1 million AIDS orphans in Tanzania, many of whom don't go to school
• 45,000 teachers are needed to replace the ones who have died from AIDS.
• There is an increase with injecting drug use, especially on the island of Zanzibar, which is on the drug trade route from Asia to Europe and North America. About 25% of the injecting drug users in Zanzibar are living with HIV.
  

Turkey

• Turkey has less than 2,000 people living with HIV, so the epidemic is smaller in comparison with the rest of Europe.
• But this might change - in 2005 and 2006 the reported number of HIV cases doubled. Turkey's neighbours in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have some of the fastest-growing HIV epidemics in the world, and this might spread into Turkey.
• Half of the women living in rural areas do not believe that there is a way to avoid HIV infection. Young people are highly mobile within the country and most lack information on AIDS.

Uganda

• Some way was made in pushing back HIV in Uganda in the 1990s, but recent reports indicate that HIV is on the rise again, especially in rural areas.
• There are an estimated one million people in Uganda living with HIV in 2007, with more woman infected than men.

United Kingdom

• An estimated 68,000 people were living with HIV in the UK in 2007.
• Worryingly it has one of the largest increases of any country in Western Europe in HIV infections since 1998. In fact, new HIV diagnoses have doubled since 2000.
• Most infections occur through heterosexual contact (60%).
• British teenagers are the most sexually active in Europe, yet use relatively few condoms.

USA

• Never before have there been so many HIV infected living in America - an estimated 1.2 million people living with HIV.
• Racial and ethnic minorities continue to be disproportionally affected by the epidemic, with 70% of AIDS diagnoses are among African-Americans and Hispanics, even though they constitute only 26% of the US population.
• The proportion of women among the new HIV diagnoses has increased dramatically - from 15% before 1995 to 27% in 2004. The majority of these women were infected during unprotected sex.
• The provision of antiretroviral therapy has resulted in a decline in AIDS death rates of 80% in America between 1990 and 2003 - the treatment has become increasingly effective.
  

Vietnam

• People in Vietnam underestimate the risk of AIDS and the rate at which the epidemic is spreading in their country.
• The number of people living with HIV has doubled since 2000, to around 260,000 in 2007, which is alarming.
• In the coming years more than 40,000 people are estimated to contract HIV every year without stonger prevention programmes.
• A third of Vietnam’s population is made up of young people (age range 10-24), approximately 24 million youth in total, however over half of the reported HIV and AIDS cases are in the 20-29 age group, meaning that Vietnam’s youth are disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS.

Zambia

• At current levels of HIV prevalence and in the absence of treatment, young people in Zambia face a 50% life-time risk of dying of AIDS.
• There are 1.1 million people, out of a population of 11 million, who are living with HIV, and there are over 700,000 AIDS orphans in Zambia.
• The principal ways in which HIV is transmitted is through unprotected heterosexual sex and from mother-to-child.

Zimbabwe

• With 1.7 million of the 13 million population of Zimbabwe living with HIV, the state of the epidemic is severe.
• But there is good news: Zimbabwe is the only country in southern Africa where the national adult HIV prevalence has declined. Dr. Peter Piot, head of UNAIDS, said that in Zimbabwe, “The declines in HIV rates have been due to changes in behaviour, including increased use of condoms, people delaying the first time they have sexual intercourse, and people having fewer sexual partners.”
• Even so, one in five adults still lives with HIV.