Global HIV/AIDS Condition

Xindi Xie, JMSC News

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) occurs at the most advanced stage of infection. Since its discovery in 1981, HIV has been a major global public health problem and continues to spread in all countries around the world.

According to World Health Organization, since the beginning of the epidemic, 88.4 million people have been infected with HIV and about 42.3 million people have died of HIV. In 2023, approximately 39.9 million people were infected with HIV worldwide. In addition, there were 1.3 million new cases of HIV in 2023, a 60% decrease from the peak in 1995, but there is still a gap from the target of less than 370,000 by 2025.

The data comes from the World Bank’s DataBank, and selects some indicators related to HIV/AIDS from the database entitled “Health Nutrition and Population Statistics”. The selected indicators include basic information about HIV/AIDS in the past decade, such as the number of infected people, infection rate, number of deaths, etc. These information can help us understand the global HIV/AIDS situation.

Questions to answer

1.Which countries have the highest number of adults living with HIV in the most recent year (Top 10)?

2.Which countries have the highest HIV infection rate in the most recent year (Top 10)? What trends have these countries shown in the past decade?

3.Which countries have the highest number of AIDS deaths in the most recent year (Top 10)?

4.Which countries have the highest number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in the most recent year (Top 10)? What trends have these countries shown in the past decade?

Summary of Findings

Although data from 2014 to 2024 were selected from the original database, the latest year is 2022 due to the missing data for 2023 and 2024.

1. South Africa has the highest number of adults living with HIV in 2022, and nine of the top ten countries are in Africa.

  • The number of adults living with HIV in South Africa far exceeds that of any other country. In 2022, South Africa’s total population was 62.38 million, but there were 7.4 million adults aged more than 15 living with HIV.

  • India is the only non-African country among the ten countries, with 2.4 million adults over the age of 15 living with HIV, ranking second and also facing a serious HIV/AIDS situation.

2. In 2022, the country with the highest HIV infection rate in the 15-49 age group is Eswatini. The top ten countries, except Equatorial Guinea, are all located in Southern Africa.

  • The HIV prevalence in Eswatini for people aged 15-49 is 25.9%, the highest in the world in 2022. This reflects the spread and scale of HIV infection among people in this age group in the country.

  • In 2022, except for Equatorial Guinea, which is located in Central Africa, the other nine countries are located in Southern Africa, indicating that the situation in this region is relatively serious.

  • Over the past decade, the prevalence of HIV in Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique and South Africa has shown a trend of first rising and then falling, while the other six countries have shown a downward trend. This shows that the prevention and treatment measures in these countries have gradually produced results over the past decade.

3. In 2022, Mozambique had the highest number of AIDS estimated deaths. Eight of the top ten countries with the highest number of AIDS estimated deaths are in Africa.

  • In 2022, Mozambique had the highest number of AIDS estimated deaths, with 48,000 people.

  • The top three countries(Mozambique, South Africa, India) have AIDS estimated deaths of more than 40,000, and the number of adults (ages 15+) living with HIV in these three countries also ranks in the top three.

4. Mozambique has the highest number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in 2022, and the top ten countries are all African countries.

  • Number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS is the estimated number of children who have lost their mother or both parents to AIDS before age 15. In 2022, Mozambique had the largest number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, with 1.3 million.

  • The number of AIDS orphans in Mozambique has been increasing over the past decade, which is a cause for concern. Although the number of AIDS orphans in Cameroon increased before 2018, it gradually decreased in the following years.

Conclusion

From the above charts, we can see some basic information about HIV/AIDS around the world. Although the final results may be limited due to missing data from some countries, it can still be seen that the situation in Africa is relatively serious.

According to SOS Children’s Villages, south of the Sahara, the AIDS epidemic is the leading cause of death. Two-thirds of all HIV-infected people worldwide are Africans. In addition, Africa’s medical system is weak, and the number of hospitals and doctors is far less than the demand. Although antiretroviral treatment coverage has increased in recent years, there are still 117,000 people who have not received ART treatment.

The issue of AIDS orphans also deserves continued attention. According to world Bank, Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 16% of the world’s population, but 67% of the people living in extreme poverty in 2024. Due to poverty, sick parents cannot get treatment, and AIDS orphans have to rely on themselves to survive if they have no relatives to take them in after losing their parents. Some AIDS orphans even died on the streets. Therefore, the fact that the number of AIDS orphans in Mozambique in the past decade is increasing instead of decreasing is worthy of attention.

Reference

1.https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/hiv-aids

2.https://www.sos-usa.org/about-us/where-we-work/africa/aids-in-africa

3.https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/poverty-prosperity-and-planet