Sub-Saharan Africa’s burden

UNAIDS estimates that out of 40 million people living with HIV globally, 28.5 million (over 71%) are in sub-Saharan Africa – the region least able to cope. A number of countries within Southern Africa, including South Africa, face HIV prevalence rates of over 20%, and Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe have rates above 30%. Relationships between young women and older men remain a worrying cause of new infections. Young women often have little control over unsafe sexual behaviour and condom use, heightening their risk of HIV infection.