Sifter

By the year 2025, no one under the age of 50 in Africa will be able to remember a world without the devastation of AIDS. In some countries as many as one-third of adults have the disease. The combination of poverty and malnourishment with the deadly virus has resulted in one of the worst pandemics in human history, with no end or even much improvement in sight. Indeed, the numbers are getting worse. AIDS is a terrible disease no matter where one lives, but residents of the rich nations at least have access to drugs that counter the virus and extend life greatly. Not so Africans, who are wasting away by the millions, as these figures show:

Number of people worldwide with HIV/AIDS 37.8 million

Number of these who live in Sub-Saharan Africa 25 million

Percentage of those who are women 57 (13 million)

Number of them who are children 1.9 million

Number of children orphaned by AIDS 12 million

Number of people worldwide who have died from AIDS since 1981 20 million

Estimated number of people who acquired HIV/AIDS in 2004 4.9 million

Percentage of new victims who live in developing countries 95

Percentage of 15- to 24-year-olds with AIDS who are female 60

Estimated number of Americans living with HIV/AIDS 850,000-950,000

Percentage of these who are unaware they have the disease 25

Percentage of new U.S. infections among people younger than 25 50

Percentage of new infections among men as a result of homosexual sex 60

Percentage of new infections among men as a result of intravenous drug use 25

Percentage of new infections among men as a result of heterosexual sex 15

Percentage of new infections among women as a result of heterosexual sex 75

Percentage of new infections among women as a result of intravenous drug use 25

Sources www.niaid.nih.gov, www.avert.org