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Of
the 42 million people living worldwide with HIV, 29.4 million live in sub-Saharan
Africa. Those statistics, and others compiled by Agence France-Press, offer
an apt reminder of the African epidemic's savanna-like scope.
—Of
the 29.4 million sub-Saharan Africans with HIV infection, 10 million are
15- to 24-years old and 3 million are under 15.
—The prevalence of HIV infection across sub-Saharan Africa stands at 9%.
—The countries with the highest infection rates are Botswana (38.8%),
Zimbabwe (33.7%), Swaziland (33.4%), and Lesotho (31%).
—The countries with the lowest rates are Mauritius (0.1%), Madagascar
(0.3%), Senegal (0.5%), and Somalia (1.0%).
—Eleven million sub-Saharan African children have lost one or both parents
to AIDS.
—By 2010, the number of AIDS orphans is expected to reach 20 million,
or 6% of children south of the Sahara.
Various estimates of HIV's economic impact hold that the epidemic trims
annual growth in gross domestic product by 0.3% to 1.5%. But Agence France-Press
reports that "these calculations are increasingly under attack as serious
underestimates and too short term, failing to factor in the narrowing
of the tax base, long-term loss of entrepreneurial skills and transfer
of human knowledge."
Source: Agence France-Presse. AIDS in Africa: a factfile. September 17,
2003.
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