- Human
- Immunodeficiency
- Virus
Causes AIDS by destroying the body's ability to fight disease ? People can live with HIV-infection for many years without developing AIDS
WHAT IS AIDS?
- Acquired
- Immuno
- Deficiency
- Syndrome
AIDS is defined when a person's immune system has become weak making them vulnerable to opportunistic infections.
Global Overview
December 2001
Twenty years after the first clinical evidence of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome was reported, AIDS has become the most devastating disease humankind has ever faced. Since the epidemic began, more than 60 million people have been infected with the virus. HIV/AIDS is now the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. Worldwide, it is the fourth biggest killer.
At the end of 2001, an estimated 40 million people globally were living with HIV. In many parts of the developing world, the majority of new infections occured in young adults, with young women especially vulnerable. About one-third of those currently living with HIV/AIDS are aged 15-24. Most of them do not know they carry the virus. Many millions more know nothing or too little about HIV to protect themselves against it.
Figures UNAIDS |
