An estimated 37.8 million (between 34.6 million and 42.3 million) people were living with HIV worldwide in 2003

In 2003, an estimated 4.8 million (between 4.2 million and 6.3 million) people were newly infected with HIV

About 95 percent of people living with HIV and AIDS are in low and middle income countries

About 7 percent of the people in low and middle income countries who need anti-retroviral drugs actually received them in 2003.

Figures released in 2003 estimated that the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in each region was as follows:

Australia and New Zealand: 15,000

Caribbean: 470,000

East Asia and Pacific: 1,000,000

Europe and Central Asia: 1,500,000

Latin America: 1,600,000

Middle East and North Africa: 600,000

North America: 995,000

South and South-East Asia: 6,400,000

Sub-Saharan Africa: 26,600,000

Western Europe: 600,000

HIV/AIDS can have a devastating economic impact on countries with severe infection rates. Estimates suggest when the prevalence of HIV/AIDS reaches 8 percent - about where it is today for 13 African countries - the cost in terms of economic growth is estimated at about 1 percent a years.

The Human Cost

In 2001, at least 15 percent of children in 10 sub-Saharan African countries had lost one or both parents to AIDS or associated causes. Because of the 10-year time lag between infection and death, the number of orphans will continue to rise for at least the next decade. By 2010, it is estimated that 20 million children will have lost a parent to AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa alone.

Every day 2000 babies are infected with HIV during pregnancy, at birth or through breastfeeding. Without effective medical interventions, at last one third of the infants born to HIV-positive mothers contract the virus. Most of the infants that contract the virus will die before their fifth birthday.

Every day there are about 14,000 new HIV infections worldwide. Of these more than 95 percent occur in low and middle income countries and about 2000 are among children under 15.

In some sub-Saharan African countries - such as Botswana and Swaziland, more than one-third of adults are estimated to be infected with HIV. South Africa, also in the region, has the largest number of people living with HIV - more than 5 million.

Ignorance Remains a Problem

In sub-Saharan Africa, where two girls are infected for every boy, half the teenaged girls interviewed in one survey, did not realize that a healthy-looking person could be HIV-positive.

In the Ukraine, 39 percent of teenagers had never heard of AIDS or still believe that HIV can be transferred through supernatural means.

The World Bank's Work On HIV/AIDS

In the past six years, the World Bank has committed about $US1.7 billion through grants, loans and credits for programs to fight HIV/AIDS

The Multi-Country HIV/AIDS Program (MAP) for Africa, first launched in September 2000, has committed more than $US1 billion to 28 countries to fight HIV/AIDS

In 2001, the Bank made available $US155 million for a MAP project to fight HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean.

For the poorest nations, World Bank support for HIV/AIDS projects can be up to 100 percent grant financed.

In April 2004, the Bank entered into a partnership with the Global Fund, UNICEF, and the Clinton Foundation to make it possible for developing countries to purchase high-quality AIDS medicines at low prices. The drug agreements could save from US$ 150 to US$ 400 per patient per year while the diagnostics agreements will result in savings of up to 80%.

To encourage countries to use Bank funding for treatment, the US$ 60 million Treatment Acceleration Project (TAP) was approved in June 2004. The TAP's grants to Burkina Faso, Ghana and Mozambique will test public sector/civil society partnerships to scale up treatment.

(China.org.cn July 8, 2004)