Stats on the Epidemic

Posted: 17 June 2005

Southern Africa is the area worst affected by HIV/AIDS in the world, and women are bearing the brunt of the disease.

35% of all people living with HIV and almost one third (32%) of all new HIV infections and AIDS deaths in the entire world are in southern Africa.
1 in 7 adults in Zimbabwe is living with HIV compared with 1 in 5 in 2002. Life expectancy for men in Zimbabwe is 37 years; for women it is 34.
Prevalence in Zimbabwe has declined significantly: Infection rates among pregnant women fell from 26% in 2002 to 18% in 2004. The biggest fall in infections is amongst pregnant women in the 15-24 year group, with a 13.1% infection rate compared with 20.8% in 2002. The drop is attributed to behavior changes, such as reductions in sex with casual partners and increased condom usage (probably due to greater awareness of the disease). However, an increase in AIDS mortality is certainly contributing to the drop in prevalence.
South Africa has the largest number of HIV infections in the world.
In South Africa, 5.5 million of the country’s 48 million people are living with HIV. The crisis is disproportionately affecting women. Females in the 15-24 age group are four times more likely to be infected as males in this age range.
In 2005, 1 in 3 women in South Africa aged 30-34 were living with HIV; 1 in 4 men aged 30-39 were living with HIV. Government statistics show the death rate from natural causes increased fivefold for women aged 25-34 between 1997 and 2004. For men aged 30-44 it more than doubled. This sharp increase is attributed to AIDS.
Prevalence of HIV in pregnant woman has stabilized, with a decline in women under 20 from 15.9% in 2005 to 13.7% in 2006 suggesting a possible reduction in the number of new infections in the population.
Data in Mozambique shows an increasing infection rate, up to 20% among pregnant women in the central and southern zones. This is the only country in the region to show an increase in infection over the period.

(Source: 2007 UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic)