AIDS

Internet Studies

AIDS is an acronym for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and is defined as a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the depletion of the immune system caused by infection with HIV. Although treatments for both AIDS and HIV exist, there is no known cure. The rate of clinical disease progression varies widely between individuals and has been shown to be affected by many factors such as host susceptibility, immune function, health care, the presence of co-infections and peculiarities of the viral strain.

HIV is transmitted through penetrative (anal or vaginal) and oral sex; blood transfusion; the sharing of contaminated needles in health care settings and through drug injection; and, between mother and infant, during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding, according to UNAIDS

AIDS is thought to have originated in sub-Saharan Africa during the twentieth century and is now a global epidemic. The World Health Organization estimated that, worldwide, between 2.8 and 3.5 million people with AIDS

UNAIDS and the WHO estimated that between 36 and 44 million people around the world were living with HIV in December 2004 [3]. It was estimated that during 2004, between 4.3 and 6.4 million people were newly infected with HIV and between 2.8 and 3.5 million people with AIDS died. Sub-Saharan Africa remains by far the worst-affected region, with 23.4 million to 28.4 million people living with HIV at the end of 2004. Just under two thirds (64%) of all people living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa, as are more than three quarters (76%) of all women living with HIV. [4] South & South East Asia are second most affected with 15%. AIDS accounts for the deaths of 500,000 children.

World region	Estimated adult prevalence of HIV infection (ages 15–49)	Estimated adult and child deaths during 2004
Sub-Saharan Africa	6.9% to 8.3%	2.1 to 2.6 million
Caribbean	1.5% to 4.1%	24,000 to 61,000
Asia	0.3% to 0.6%	350,000 to 810,000
Eastern Europe and Central Asia	0.5% to 1.2%	39,000 to 87,000
Latin America	0.5% to 0.8%	73,000 to 120,000
Oceania	0.1% to 0.3%	fewer than 1,700
Middle East and North Africa	0.1% to 0.7%	12,000 to 72,000
North America, Western and Central Europe	0.3% to 0.6%	15,000 to 32,000

Source: UNAIDS and the WHO 2004 estimates. The ranges define the boundaries within which the actual numbers lie, based on the best available information. [5]

The latest evaluation report of the World Bank's Operations Evaluation Department assesses the development effectiveness of the World Bank's country-level HIV/AIDS assistance defined as policy dialogue, analytic work, and lending with the explicit objective of reducing the scope or impact of the AIDS epidemic. This is the first comprehensive evaluation of the World Bank's HIV/AIDS support to countries, from the beginning of the epidemic through mid-2004. Because the Bank's assistance is for implementation of government programs by government, it provides important insights on how national AIDS programs can be made more effective.