Wherever there is poverty, social exclusion, poor access to services, silence or discrimination against people who have the disease, that is where the disease is able to take root most effectively and to affect millions of individuals.
	Kevin Fenton, MD, Director of the National Centre for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention

 

The spread of HIV/AIDS is one or the biggest challenges facing the world today.

HIV/AIDS is a health issue but its effects are felt well beyond the health sector. In the developing world, where HIV/AIDS is most prevalent, communities have to grapple with the impact of HIV/AIDS in every area of their lives. The people who are most affected are usually of working age and consequently there is a new generation of orphans who often rely on grandparents for support.


Fact 1: Millennium Development Goal 6 aims to halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.

Fact 2: Worldwide the number of people newly infected with HIV peaked in 1996 had has since declined to 2.7 million in 2007 (Millennium Development Goal Report 2009).

Fact 3: in 2007, an estimated 33 million people were living with HIV (Millennium Development Goal Report 2009).

Fact 4: The estimated number of AIDS deaths appears to have peaked in 2005, at 2.2 million, and has since declined to 2 million in 2007 (Millennium Development Goal Report 2009).

Fact 5: UNAIDS estimates that the number of people living with HIV in the Asia-Pacific region will increase from 5 million to 20 million by 2010 if the response is not accelerated.

Fact 6: The Catholic Church network is one of the biggest care providers for those who have HIV and AIDS around the world.


Be More giving: Give the gift of HIV/AIDS education, training and care through Caritas Australia’s Global Gift campaign. 

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