An estimated 13.7 million Africans have lost their lives to AIDS, including 2.2 million who died in 1998. AIDS has surpassed malaria as the leading cause of death in Africa, and it kills many times more Africans than war. In addition to its severity, the sub-Saharan AIDS epidemic is defined by a number of other unusual characteristics. HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS, is spread in Africa primarily by heterosexual contact, rather than primarily by contact among gay males or through intravenous drug use. Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in which women are infected with HIV at a higher rate than men.
Young women are particularly at risk.
To date, eastern and southern Africa have been far more severely affected than West Africa, but infection rates in a number of West African countries are starting to escalate. The African AIDS epidemic is having a much greater impact on children than is the case in other parts of the world. An estimated 600,000 African infants become infected with FHV each year through mother to child transmission, either at birth or through breast-feeding. This site was created by the U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Sections. Please, send your comments to the Webmaster Links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein.