China, India and Pakistan are among the 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific that account for 98 percent of youngsters aged 10 to 19 living with HIV according to a UN report which said the region is facing a “hidden epidemic” of HIV among adolescents.
Dec 1, #WorldAIDSDay is used to unite people to fight against it. The human immunodeficiency virus first identified in 1948, to show their support for people surviving with HIV and commemorate those who have lost their lives.
Here are some facts about AIDS in 2015 with data from the World Health Organisation, the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF, and UNAIDS:
1. Worldwide about 36.9 million people are living with HIV including 2.6 million children.
2. An estimated 2 million were infected in 2014.
3. An estimated 34 million people have died from HIV or AIDS, including 1.2 million in 2014.
4. The amount of adolescent deaths from AIDS has three times increased over the last 15 years.
5. The member countries of the United Nations agreed in September in a new set of global goals to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
6. At start of 2015, 15 million people were receiving anti-retro viral therapy compared to 1 million in 2001.
8. Despite widespread availability of HIV testing, only an estimated 51 percent of people with HIV know their status.
9. The global response to HIV has averted 30 million new HIV infections and nearly 8 million deaths since 2000.
10. In 2015, Cuba was the first country declared to have eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
