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Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a surveillance term defined by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and by the European Centre for the Epidemiological Monitoring of AIDS (EuroHIV). The term AIDS applies to the most advanced stages of HIV infection, defined by the occurrence of any of more than 20 opportunistic infections or HIV-related cancers.
According to estimates by WHO and UNAIDS, 33.2 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2007. That same year, some 2.5 million people became newly infected, and 2.1 million died of AIDS, including 330 000 children. Two thirds of HIV infections are in sub-Saharan Africa.
Approximately 3 million people in low- and middle-income countries were receiving HIV antiretroviral therapy at the end of 2007. Until 2003, the high cost of the medicines, weak or inadequate health-care infrastructure, and lack of financing prevented wide use of combination antiretroviral treatment in low- and middle-income countries. But in recent years, increased political and financial commitment has allowed dramatic expansion of access to HIV therapy.
Source: World Health Organization
Prevention Failure: The Ballooning Entitlement Burden of U.S. Global AIDS Treatment Spending and What to Do About It
AIDS, Access to Medicines, and the Different Roles of the Brazilian and South African Governments in Global Health Governance
Opportunity 2008: the Presidential Candidates and U.S. Policies to Fight HIV/AIDS in Africa and Worldwide
What About Women? The Failure of HIV/AIDS Initiatives to Address the Needs of African Women
The Role of Southern Actors in Global Governance: The Fight against HIV/AIDS
UNAIDS
http://www.unaids.org/en/
WHO and HIV/AIDS
http://www.who.int/hiv/en/
AIDS.gov
http://www.aids.gov/
Johns Hopkins HIV Guide
http://www.hopkins-aids.edu/
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