HIV and AIDS statistics.

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 850,000 to 950,000 U.S. residents are living with HIV infection, one-quarter of whom are unaware of their infection.⁽²⁾

• Approximately 40,000 new HIV infections occur each year in the United States, about 70 percent among men and 30 percent among women. Of these newly infected people, half are younger than 25 years of age.^(3,4)

• Of new infections among men in the United States, CDC estimates that approximately 60 percent of men were infected through homosexual sex, 25 percent through injection drug use, and 15 percent through heterosexual sex. Of newly infected men, approximately 50 percent are black, 30 percent are white, 20 percent are Hispanic, and a small percentage are members of other racial/ethnic groups.⁽⁴⁾

• Of new infections among women in the United States, CDC estimates that approximately 75 percent of women were infected through heterosexual sex and 25 percent through injection drug use. Of newly infected women, approximately 64 percent are black, 18 percent are white, 18 percent are Hispanic, and a small percentage are members of other racial/ethnic groups.⁽⁴⁾

• The estimated number of AIDS diagnoses through 2002 in the United States is 886,575. Adult and adolescent AIDS cases total 877,275, with 718,002 cases in males and 159,271 cases in females. Through the same time period, 9,300 AIDS cases were estimated in children under age 13.⁽⁵⁾

• The estimated number of new adult/adolescent AIDS diagnoses in the United States was 43,225 in 1998, 41,134 in 1999, 42,239 in 2000, 41,227 in 2001, and 42,136 in 2002.⁽⁵⁾

• The estimated number of new pediatric AIDS cases (cases among individuals younger than age 13) in the United States fell from 952 in 1992 to 92 in 2002.⁽⁵⁾

• The estimated rate of adult/adolescent AIDS diagnoses in the United States in 2002 (per 100,000 population) was 76.4 among blacks, 26.0 among Hispanics, 11.2 among American Indians/Alaska Natives, 7.0 among whites, and 4.9 among Asians/Pacific Islanders.⁽⁵⁾

• From 1985 to 2002, the proportion of adult/adolescent AIDS cases in the United States reported in women increased from 7 percent to 26 percent.⁽⁵⁾

• As of the end of 2002, an estimated 384,906 people in the United States were living with AIDS.⁽⁵⁾

• As of December 31, 2002, an estimated 501,669 people with AIDS in the United States had died.⁽⁵⁾

• The estimated annual number of AIDS-related deaths in the United States fell approximately 14 percent from 1998 to 2002, from 19,005 deaths in 1998 to 16,371 deaths in 2002.⁽⁵⁾

• Of the estimated 16,371 AIDS-related deaths in the United States in 2002, approximately 52 percent were among blacks, 28 percent among whites, 19 percent among Hispanics, and less than 1 percent among Asians/Pacific Islanders and American Indians/Alaska Natives.⁽⁵⁾

• As of the end of 2003, an estimated 40 million people worldwide - 37 million adults and 2.5 million children younger than 15 years - were living with HIV/AIDS. Approximately two-thirds of these people (26.6 million) live in Sub-Saharan Africa; another 18 percent (7.4 million) live in Asia and the Pacific.⁽¹⁾

• Worldwide, approximately 11 of every 1000 adults aged 15 to 49 are HIV-infected. In Sub-Saharan Africa, about 8 percent of all adults in this age group are HIV-infected. ⁽¹⁾

• An estimated 5 million new HIV infections occurred worldwide during 2003; that is, about 14,000 infections each day. More than 95 percent of these new infections occurred in developing countries, and nearly 50 percent were among females.⁽¹⁾

• In 2003, approximately 2,000 children under the age of 15 years, and 6,000 young people aged 15 to 24 years became infected with HIV every day.⁽¹⁾

• In 2003 alone, HIV/AIDS-associated illnesses caused the deaths of approximately 3 million people worldwide, including an estimated 500,000 children younger than 15 years.⁽¹⁾

• Sexually transmitted diseases are diagnosed 12 million times a year in the United States - including a staggering 3 million cases among teen-agers.
• The U.S. spends just $1 to prevent sexually transmitted illnesses for every $43 spent treating them.
• Left untreated, sexually transmitted diseases can cause infertility, cancer, birth defects and miscarriages, even death. And Americans suffer 10 to 50 times more sexually transmitted diseases than people in other developed countries.
• One in 10 Americans cannot even name a sexually transmitted disease, and only 23 percent know about chlamydia, the most common sexual disease, striking an estimated 4 million Americans a year.
• Gonorrhea strikes 150 times per 100,000 Americans, vs. just three times per 100,000 people in Sweden and 18 per 100,000 in Canada.
• One in four women has human papilloma virus, an infection that makes them 10 times more likely to develop cervical cancer.
• Surveys indicate one in 50 Americans is aware of having genital herpes, yet one in five really does.
• Two-thirds of people with sexually transmitted diseases become infected before age 25.
• Worldwide, there were at least 333,000,000 new cases of curable sexually transmitted diseases in 1995.
• There is strong evidence that sexually transmitted diseases greatly increase the risk of sexual transmission of HIV.

• Only 13 percent of Americans surveyed said they practice safer sex by using a condom every time. (Durex Global AIDS Survey, November 29, 1997)
• Globally, 81 percent of French respondents and 79 percent of Mexican respondents are worried about becoming infected with HIV/AIDS, making their citizens the two most concerned nationalities.  However, the French are more inclined to consistently practice safer sex.  Twenty-six percent indicated that they use a condom during every sexual encounter, compared to just 11 percent of Mexicans who do the same. (Durex Global AIDS Survey, November 29, 1997)
• In one recent U.S. study* about one-half of the sexually experienced teenagers had failed to use a condom the last time they had intercourse.

1.	UNAIDS. AIDS Epidemic Update, December, 2003.
2.	Fleming, P.L. et al. HIV Prevalence in the United States, 2000. 9th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, Seattle, Wash., Feb. 24-28, 2002. Abstract 11.
3.	Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). HIV and AIDS - United States, 1981-2001. MMWR 2001;50:430-434.
4.	Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). HIV Prevention Strategic Plan Through 2005. January 2001.
5.	Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report 2002;14:1-40.