In 2007 an estimated 33.2 million people were living with HIV, approximately 30.8 million adults and 2.5 million children.
There were an estimated 2.5 million new infections and 2.1 million Aids deaths.
Around 95 percent of the 6,800 new infections per day occur in low and middle income group countries, about 1,200 of these are children under 15 years of age.
About 68 percent of all HIV sufferers live in sub-Saharan Africa and 76 percent of all Aids deaths occur in this region.
63,500 people infected with the HI-Virus were living in Germany at the end of 2008, around 10,500 of them had also contracted full-blown Aids. There were around 3,000 new infections.
In Germany the majority of new infections occur in the big cities and metropolitan areas.
HIV/AIDS
FACTS & FIGURES – HISTORY
On the 1st of December 1981 Aids is officially recognized as a distinct disease.
Aids is defined as an infection caused by the HI-Virus that permanently damages the human immune system.
In 1983 the French researcher Luc Montagnier discovers a virus which could be responsible for the disease; in 1984 Robert Gallo discovers a similar retrovirus.
1985 it becomes clear that the two viruses are identical. It is decided to call the new virus HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus).
The first World AIDS Conference takes place in Atlanta in the same year.
1988 The World Health Organization (WHO) declares the 1st of December to be World AIDS Day.
1990 The AIDS Conference in San Francisco declares the red ribbon to be the symbol against discrimination of HIV sufferers, one year later the red bow becomes the international symbol for the fight against Aids.
For a few years the number of new infections in Germany remains constant at 2,000 per annum. In recent times however there has been a marked increase. In 2007 the number of new infections rise to ca. 3,000.
From the beginning of the 1980’s until 2007 around 86,000 people have been infected with HIV. Of these 33,800 have contracted full-blown Aids and 27,000 have died as a result of their HIV infection.
The WHO estimates that over 2 million people died of Aids in 2006.
There are currently over 33 million people with Aids, with an estimated 2.5 million new infections every year.
The number of HIV infections per head of population lies at around 1 percent. This figure rises to 20 percent in some African countries.
