Two in every three persons in the world living with HIV/AIDS, and nine in every ten children born with HIV infection are in the sub-Saharan Africa region.
In 1998, wars in Africa killed 200,000 people. AIDS killed 2 million people on the continent. AIDS is the leading killer in sub-Saharan Africa. What is more, in Africa, HIV and AIDS pose a far more serious threat to soldiers than their dangerous profession. In most countries, infection rates in the military from sexually transmitted diseases are generally two to five times higher than the rates in comparable civilian populations. Overcrowding, violence, rape, despair and the need to sell or give away sex to survive contribute to a significant increase in HIV infection among refugees in the camps. People are six times more likely to contract HIV in a refugee camp than in the general population. Africa is home to more than 4 million refugees.
Life expectancy at birth in southern Africa, which rose from 44 in the early 1950s to 59 in the early 1990s, is set to drop back to 45 in the next 10 years because of AIDS. In some countries, it is even lower. Using different modeling methodologies, researchers estimate life expectancy in Zimbabwe to be between 30 and 35 years in the 21st century (US Bureau of the Census; Gregson et al., 1994). Significant reductions in life expectancy due to AIDS imply an increase in the numbers of orphaned children.
East and primarily Southern Africa present the most alarming statistics. Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe hold the hardest hit populations.
AIDS impacts children directly and indirectly. According to UNAIDS, by the end of 1999, 570,000 children were infected. 90% of the infections in children are acquired in vertical transmission of HIV infection, which may occur during pregnancy, at delivery or post-partum through breastfeeding. The main patterns of HIV transmission in Sub-Saharan Africa are through heterosexual contacts, and by mother-to-infant transmission. On the other hand, the HIV infection has indirect effects on children who are affected by but not infected with HIV.