Report on the Global HIV/AIDS epidemic

Report on the global HIV/AIDS epidemic - June 2000
Figure 3. HIV prevalence rate among women in their teens and early twenties,
various African studies, 1995-1998
70
60
Ewomen 15-19
5 women 20-24
50
40
30
0
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Asia holds HIV at bay - but for how long?
tions of Asia are low. The prevalence among 15-49-year-olds exceeds 1% in only
three countries- Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand; in other countries, the prevalence rate is often far lower. In Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country,
fewer than 5 people in 10 000 are living with HIV. In the Philippines, the rate of HIV
infection is only slightly higher, at 7 per 10 000.
These figures do not tell the whole story, however. Within the largest Asian nations,
some geographic regions have far more inhabitants than most African countries and
have HIV prevalence rates far greater than the national average. In Asian countries
in which the epidemic is concentrated in certain groups, such as injecting drug
users, it is misleading to focus solely on the prevalence in the general population.
China and India between them account for around 36% of the world's population.
With such huge populations, even low HIV prevalence rates mean that huge numbers of people live with the virus. Indeed, in India, where only 7 adults in 1000 are
infected with HIV, 3.7 million people were living with HIV/AIDS at the beginning of the
millennium - more than in any other country in the world except South Africa. India's
epidemic is highly diverse: while some states show almost no HIV infection, others
have reached adult HIV prevalence rates of 2% and above.
in hih h. p'emc i cncntat' i crtan rops suh s nj'tig ru

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