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November 07 UNAIDS Fact Sheet

Global Overview
Global HIV prevalence (the proportion of people living with the virus) appears to have levelled off. However, the number of people living with HIV has risen to 33.2 million in 2007 from 29.0 million in 2001.

Some 2.5 million people were newly infected with the virus in 2007 and 2.1 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses.

Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most affected region. Some 1.7 million people were newly infected with HIV in 2007, bringing to 22.5 million the total number of people living with the virus. Unlike other regions, the majority of people (61%) living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa are women.

More than two-thirds (68%) of all people infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa where more than three quarters (76%) of all AIDS-related deaths in 2007 occurred.

Within the region, Southern Africa is worst-affected – national adult HIV prevalence exceeded 15% in eight Southern African countries in 2005.

South Africa is the country in the world with the most HIV infections, but like most of the countries in Southern, East and West Africa adult HIV prevalence is either stable or has started to decline. The latter trend is most evident in Kenya and Zimbabwe, and signs of declining HIV prevalence are also being seen in Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and urban Burkina Faso. In these countries there is also evidence of a shift towards safer behaviour.