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Summary:
Sub-Saharan Africa has been more severely affected by AIDS than any other part of the world. In 2005, the United Nations reports, there were about 25.8 million HIV-positive adults and children in the region, which has about 11.15% of the world's population but over 64% of the worldwide total of infected people. The overall rate of infection among adults in sub-Saharan Africa is 7.4%, compared with 1.1% worldwide. Nine southern Africa countries have infection rates above 10%, and the ten African countries with the largest infected populations account for over 50% of infected adults worldwide. By late 2005, an estimated 27.7 million Africans will have died of AIDS, including a 2005 estimate of 3.1 million deaths. AIDS has surpassed malaria as the leading cause of death in Africa, and it kills many times more Africans than war. In Africa, 57% of those infected are women. Experts attribute the severity of Africa's AIDS epidemic to the region's poverty, women's relative lack of empowerment, high rates of male worker migration, and other factors. Health systems are ill-equipped for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. AIDS' severe social and economic consequences are depriving Africa of skilled workers and teachers, and reducing life expectancy by decades in some countries. There are an estimated 12.3 million AIDS orphans in Africa. They face increased risk of malnutrition and reduced prospects for education. AIDS is also blamed for declines in agricultural production in some countries and is seen as a major contributor to hunger and famine. Donor governments, non-governmental organizations, and African governments have responded by supporting programs intended to prevent and reduce the number of new infections and by trying to abate the damage done by AIDS to families, societies, and economies. The adequacy of this response is the subject of much debate. An estimated 500,000 Africa AIDS patients were being treated with antiretroviral drugs in June 2005, up from 150,000 a year earlier, but an estimated 4 million remain in need of such therapy. U.S. and other initiatives are expected to sharply expand the availability of treatment in the near future. Advocates see expanded treatment as an affordable means of reducing the impact of the pandemic. Skeptics question whether treatment can be widely provided without costly improvements in health infrastructure. U.S. concern over AIDS in Africa grew during the 1980s, as the epidemic's severity became apparent. Legislation enacted in the 106th and the 107th Congresses increased funding for worldwide AIDS programs. P.L. 108-25, signed into law on May 27, 2003, authorized $15 billion over five years for international AIDS programs. President Bush announced his Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in his 2003 State of the Union message. Twelve of 15 PEPFAR "focus countries" are in sub-Saharan Africa. Under the FY2006 budget request, they would receive a 54% boost in aid, to $1.2 billion, through the State Department's Global HIV/AIDS Initiative. Nonetheless, activists and others urge that more be done, given the scale of the African pandemic.
