HIV / AIDS:

According to the National AIDS Trust (November 2007) there are 33.2 million people living with HIV across the world. There have been 2.1 million deaths due to AIDS in 2007, of which around 330,000 have been children under the age of 15.

One can put it another way and say that AIDS claims over 5,500 lives every day or that 4 people die of AIDS every minute."

"HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This is the virus known to cause AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). If someone is HIV-positive, it means they have been infected with the virus. A person infected with HIV does not have AIDS until the virus seriously damages their immune system, making them vulnerable to a range of infections, some of which can lead to death."

"HIV is transmitted through body fluids in particular blood, semen, vaginal secretions and breast milk. In fact there are only four ways someone can become HIV positive:

• Unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected partner
• Sharing needles when injecting or other use of contaminated injection or other skin-piercing equipment
• Blood and blood products, for example, infected transfusions and organ or tissue transplants
• Transmission from infected mother to child in the womb or at birth and breastfeeding

One cannot get HIV by casual physical contact; coughing, sneezing or kissing; sharing toilet and washing facilities; using eating utensils or consuming food and beverages handled by someone who has HIV; mosquitoes or other insect bites."
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According to the UK-based charity AVERT "South Africa is currently experiencing one of the most severe HIV epidemics in the world. By the end of 2005, there were five and a half million people living with HIV in South Africa, and almost 1,000 AIDS deaths occurring every day, according to UNAIDS estimates."
"A survey published in 2004 found that South Africans spent more time at funerals than they did having their hair cut, shopping or having barbecues. It also found that more than twice as many people had been to a funeral in the past month than had been to a wedding."

Read the full AVERT report on HIV & AIDS in South Africa here.
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The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) website states "Sub-Saharan Africa has just over 10% of the world’s population, but is home to more than 60% of all people living with HIV—25.8 million. In 2005, an estimated 3.2 million people in the region became newly infected, while 2.4 million adults and children died of AIDS."

One can do a lot with figures but, no matter how one uses them, they still don't tell the full story of AIDS in South Africa. For each infected person is still a human being who is made in the image of God; every one deserving our love, care, compassion and understanding.

Working with the Pretoria Community Ministries, a partnership of six inner city churches in Pretoria, Graham and Sandra's work takes them out into the streets of Pretoria offering support to women in crisis as well as the homeless and unemployed, many of whom have HIV/AIDS.

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Latest news:

On 19th November 2007 the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) produced their 2007 AIDS Epidemic Update [which] "reports on the latest developments in the global AIDS epidemic [and] provides the most recent estimates of the AIDS epidemic and explores new findings and trends in the epidemic’s evolution". It is a detailed report running to 60 pages and can be read here.

Here are a few extracts:
"Every day, over 6800 persons become infected with HIV and over 5700 persons die from AIDS, mostly because of inadequate access to HIV prevention and treatment services. The HIV pandemic remains the most serious of infectious disease challenges to public health." (page 4)

"Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most seriously affected region, with AIDS remaining the leading cause of death there." (page 4)

"Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the region most affected by the AIDS pandemic. More than two out of three (68%) adults and nearly 90% of children infected with HIV live in this region, and more than three in four (76%) AIDS deaths in 2007 occurred
there, illustrating the unmet need for antiretroviral treatment in Africa. Southern Africa alone accounted for almost one third (32%) of all new HIV infections and AIDS deaths globally in 2007." (pages 7,8)

"South Africa is the country with the largest number of HIV infections in the world." (page 16)

In response to the UNAIDS report Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of the National AIDS Trust (NAT), said "The HIV pandemic remains one of the great health crises facing our planet. As national and international bodies implement their commitments to improve data collection and surveillance, it is inevitable that there will occasionally be recalculations of the numbers affected. But with 33 million now estimated to be living with HIV worldwide, the number remains as unimaginable and catastrophic as ever.

The latest UNAIDS figures underline the need for the international community to invest in effective treatment and prevention. This must include supporting research into and development of microbicides and vaccines which offer the prospect of a long term and effective response to the epidemic."

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