HIV Epidemic
Global
During the 70s and 80s, the HIV epidemic propagated from Africa via Haiti and the USA to every country in the world. HIV infection is primarily transmitted by sexual means.
Worldwide, the number of those living with HIV infection continues to rise, although more slowly. However, the number of those newly infected was steadily sinking from 1996 (3.5 million) to 2008 (2.3 million). This may be due to more frequent treatment with antiretroviral drugs (ART). In 2008, in poor countries every third HIV-infected person (4 million) received antiretroviral therapy, which is ten times more than in 2003.
Africa
Africa south of the Sahara is the worst-affected, with 2/3 of all living HIV infected persons. In 2008, 91% of all children there were living with HIV and there were 14 million orphaned children, whose parents had died of Aids. It is estimated that in Sub-Saharan Africa, one in 20 people (5%) carry HIV.
In 2008, South Africa, with 5.7 million, was the country with the highest number of HIV-infected people in the world. The situation is even more dramatic in some small countries, which have the highest number of HIV-infected people in percentage terms: Swaziland 26%, Botswana 24%, Lesotho 23%.
North America and Western Europe
In North America and Western Europe (as in the USA, see graphic) the HIV initially affected the homosexual population and injecting drug addicts. As long ago as the 1980s, the HIV epidemic was insidiously spreading from these key groups into the heterosexual population.
Nevertheless, the rate (percentage of HIV infections within a risk group) among homosexuals and injecting drug addicts is still 30 to 40 times higher than among heterosexuals.
In most western countries, new infections among homosexuals have increased strongly again in the last ten years. On the other hand, the number of new infections among injecting drug addicts fell sharply, e.g. in Switzerland from the most common transmission path at the start of the 90s to 4% of new infections in 2008.
Switzerland - Germany - Austria
In Switzerland, each year since 1997, 700-800 new people have reported HIV-positive. In Germany, for 2008, 2,800 HIV-infected people were reported, in an upward trend. At the end of 2008, in Germany there were some 63,500 people with the HIV in their blood, some 10,500 of whom were living at that time with the full-blown disease, which is still incurable. In Austria, 505 new infections were established in 2008. That is more than in the years 1994 to 2006, in which the number of newly diagnosed HIV infections was always below 500 per year. In 2006 almost 42% of new infections came from heterosexual contacts (in 1998 it was 27%!), 28.6% via homosexual contacts and 20.5% from intravenous drug taking.
Thanks to the introduction of modern therapy (ART) in 1996, the number of people who became ill or died from Aids fell significantly in all three countries. Nevertheless, every year about 200 people in Switzerland become ill with Aids and more than 100 die from it. The total number of people who live with an HIV infection is also still increasing from year to year in Switzerland. There are currently some 25,000 in Switzerland (cautious estimate by UNAIDS/WHO).
Source: HIV/Aids – Aktuell (Dr. med. Kurt April)
©Translation: AIDS Information Switzerland
Last updated: 2/2010