There was an estimated 39 million people living with HIV and 1.3 million new HIV infections in 20221.

Eastern and Southern Africa has the highest HIV-1 burden globally. This region accounts for 53.3% of the global HIV population, with South Africa, Mozambique and United Republic of Tanzania among the countries with the highest numbers. The region has seen declining new infections, from a high of 1.6 million in 1999 to 500 000 in 2022.

Declines in the early 2000s were due to increased HIV awareness and responsible sexual behaviors2,3. The wide-spread use of antiretroviral drugs particularly in developing countries was likely responsible for the reductions in the late 2000s and 2010s onward. Increased access to treatment was possible due to strong political commitment, mobilization of resources, community interventions, and innovative service delivery models4,5.

Despite this, regions with higher HIV burden still have a number of old and new challenges. Some of them are poor access to pre-exposure prophylaxis, lower initiation and retention in HIV care for some demographics within the population, lack of enough or affordable technologies for treatment management, HIV stigma and challenges in maintaining uninterrupted HIV care during emerging or re-emerging epidemics. A continued dedicated response to these challenges will ensure the UNAIDS commitment to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 is realized6,7.

Data was obtained from the Global HIV & AIDS statistics

  1. HIV prevalence is the estimated number of adults with HIV infection, whether or not they have developed symptoms of AIDS, expressed as per cent of total population in that age group8.
  2. HIV incidence rate is the estimated number of new HIV infections per 1000 uninfected population9.
  3. UNAIDS is abbreviation for Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS
1.
Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Global HIV & AIDS statistics Fact sheet 2023. Published online September 11, 2023. https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/fact-sheet
2.
Butler A. South africa’s HIV/AIDS policy, 1994–2004: How can it be explained? African Affairs. 2005;104(417):591-614. doi:10.1093/afraf/adi036
3.
Awad SF, Abu-Raddad LJ. Could there have been substantial declines in sexual risk behavior across sub-Saharan Africa in the mid-1990s? Epidemics. 2014;8:9-17. doi:10.1016/j.epidem.2014.06.001
4.
Schneider MT, Birger M, Haakenstad A, et al. Tracking development assistance for HIV/AIDS: the international response to a global epidemic. AIDS (London, England). 2016;30(9):1475-1479. doi:10.1097/QAD.0000000000001081
5.
Rapaport SF, Peer AD, Viswasam N, et al. Implementing HIV Prevention in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review of Interventions Targeting Systems, Communities, and Individuals. AIDS and Behavior. 2023;27(1):150-160. doi:10.1007/s10461-022-03751-0
6.
Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Understanding Fast-Track: Accelerating Action to End the AIDS Epidemic by 2030.; 2015. https://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/201506_JC2743_Understanding_FastTrack_en.pdf
7.
Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). HIV PREVENTION 2025 ROAD MAP: Getting on Track to End AIDS as a Public Health Threat by 2030.; 2022.
8.
World Health Organization (WHO). HIV prevalence among adults aged 15-49 years (. Published online 2024. https://www.who.int/data/gho/indicator-metadata-registry/imr-details/334
9.
World Health Organization (WHO). HIV new infections per 1000 uninfected population. Published online 2024. https://www.who.int/data/gho/indicator-metadata-registry/imr-details/4752

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HIV incidence