Overview
| World region | Adult HIV prevalence (ages 15–49) |
Total HIV cases |
AIDS deaths in 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 5.0% | 22.5 million | 1.3 million |
| Worldwide | 0.8% | 33.3 million | 1.8 million |
| North America | 0.5% | 1.5 million | 26,000 |
| Western and Central Europe | 0.2% | 820,000 | 8,500 |
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has predicted outcomes for the region to the year 2025. These range from a plateau and eventual decline in deaths beginning around 2012 to a catastrophic continual growth in the death rate with potentially 95 million cases of infection.
Without the kind of health care and medicines (such as antiretrovirals) that are available in developed countries, large numbers of people in Africa will develop AIDS. They will not only be unable to work, but will also require significant medical care. This will likely cause a collapse of economies and societies.
In an article titled "Death Stalks A Continent", Johanna McGeary attempts to describe the severity of the issue. “Society's fittest, not its frailest, are the ones who die—adults spirited away, leaving the old and the children behind. You cannot define risk groups: everyone who is sexually active is at risk. Babies too, unwittingly infected by mothers. Barely a single family remains untouched. Most do not know how or when they caught the virus, many never know they have it. Many who do know don't tell anyone as they lie dying”.
Read more about this topic: HIV/AIDS In Africa