The HIV/AIDS epidemic has grown into one of the most significant health events of the 20th century. It has become a global crisis that devastates whole regions, knocks decades off national development, and widens the gap between rich and poor nations. According to a UNAIDS and World Health Organization update on the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, "the number of people living with HIV in the world today has risen to 42 million from 40 million at the end of the year 2001"(Roleff 16). Five million people were newly infected with the AIDS virus in 2002 and the lives of more than 3 million people were claimed by the disease in that year(Roleff 18).
"Seventy-five percent of those living with HIV/AIDS as of the year 2002 are in sub-Saharan Africa"(US dept. of state). While the long-term effect of the pandemic is unknown, studies to date paint a grim picture. According the to the World Bank, "Labor productivity is likely to drop, the benefits of education will be lost, and resources that would have been used for investments will be used for health care, orphan care, and funerals. Savings rates will decline, and the loss of human capital will affect production and the quality of life for years to come. By 2005, South Africa, for example, is projected .
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to lose 11% of its workforce to AIDS; Zimbabwe nearly 20%(World Bank). It is expected that the year 2010 will bring a "16% increase in the total of infected Sub-Saharan Africans(Diop 72). This burden is staggering considering that the region only contains about 10% of the world population. .
Overall, the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa has matured into a full blown international emergency. Although they face problems like easy transmission, unavailability of treatments, and poverty; several global and community based organizations are still making an attempt to constrain the breakout. .
Most HIV transmission in sub-Saharan Africa either occurs through sexual intercourse, unsafe surgical procedures or mother to child contact.