HIV and AIDS. Forty million people are infected with HIV -- 26 million in sub-Saharan Africa.

With 40 million people living with HIV worldwide the HIV/ AIDS epidemic threatens every aspect of global economic development. In 2005 close to 5 million people were newly infected with HIV and 3 million died of an AIDS-related illness. HIV/AIDS is among the top 10 causes of death in developing countries and the leading cause of death in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although Sub-Saharan Africa is the hardest-hit region prevalence of HIV is spreading into parts of Asia and Eastern Europe with alarming speed. HIV is transmitted primarily through three mechanisms: sexual intercourse (accounting for about 80 percent of infections worldwide; exposure to infected blood or blood products; and transmission by HIV-infected mothers to their newborns. While the international community recognizes the urgency and importance of stopping the AIDS epidemic resources have fallen short of needs. Although known interventions could prevent nearly two-thirds of new infections projected to occur between 2002 and 2010 fewer than one in five people at high risk of infection have access to the most basic prevention services. Controlling the epidemic requires political commitment and leadership at the highest levels not only to prevent the transmission of HIV but also to treat and care for people who develop AIDS. (excerpt)