Relevant Statistics

The Global Impact of HIV/AIDS

• In 2005, there were approximately 2.8 million deaths due to AIDS and 4.1 million new HIV infections.¹
• At the end of 2005, 38.6 million people were estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS.¹
• Over 95% of the 38.6 million people living with HIV/AIDS reside in low- and middle-income countries.²
• Nearly 2/3 of all people with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa, which remains the hardest-hit region of the world.¹

HIV/AIDS and Women and Children

• Women now account for almost half of all adults living with HIV/AIDS worldwide and 59% of adults with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.¹
• In sub-Saharan Africa, 1.5 times as many women are infected as men. For young adults between the ages of 15 and 24, prevalence is 3 times higher in women than in men.¹
• 2005 estimates suggest that 9% of children 15 years of age or younger in sub-Saharan Africa have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Children between the ages of 10 and 14 who have lost one parent to AIDS are significantly less likely to be enrolled in school than non-orphans. Attendance rates for children who have lost both parents to AIDS are even lower.¹
• The impact of HIV/AIDS on education is particularly heavy for young women. In Lesotho, HIV and poverty have resulted in a 25% reduction in school enrollment for girls over the past 10 years.³

Sexually Transmitted Infections

• In the United States it is estimated that almost 1/2 of the 19 million new infections occurring each year are among those aged 15 to 24.⁴
• Globally, women are disproportionately at risk for a range of cultural, socioeconomic, behavioral, and biological reasons. Because the majority of STIs in women are asymptomatic, these infections often go unattended, to devastating consequence, including cervical cancer, ectopic pregnancy, infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease, adverse pregnancy outcomes and, in many cases, death.⁵
• Beyond the serious nature and implications of each individual STI, some STIs also increase HIV transmission and acquisition.⁶ Studies suggest that an individual with a gonorrheal infection is three to five times more likely to acquire HIV, the presence of syphilis increases HIV transmission at least two- to five-fold, and HIV transmission is five times more likely in women infected with chlamydia.⁴

Additional statistics about the dual epidemics of HIV and STIs are included in the Alliance's Fact Sheets.