IB1005005-05-06Congressional Research Service
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The Library of Congress
AIDS in Africa
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UMMARY
Sub-Saharan Africa (“Africa” hereafter)has been more severely affected by AIDS thanany other part of the world. In 2005, theUnited Nations reports, there were about 25.8million HIV-positive adults and children inthe region, which has about 11.3% of theworld’s population but over 64% of the world-wide total of infected persons. The overalladult rate of infection in Africa is 7.2%, com-pared with 1.1% worldwide. Nine southernAfrica countries have infection rates above10%. Ten African countries with the largestinfected populations account for over 50% of infected adults worldwide. By the end of 2005, an estimated 27.5 million Africans haddied of AIDS since 1982, including 2.4 mil-lion in 2005. AIDS has surpassed malaria asthe leading cause of death in Africa, and itkills many times more Africans than war. InAfrica, 57% of those infected are women.Experts attribute the severity of Africa’sAIDS epidemic to the region’s poverty,women’s relative lack of empowerment, highrates of male worker migration, and otherfactors. Health systems are ill-equipped forprevention, diagnosis, and treatment.AIDS’ severe social and economic conse-quences are depriving Africa of skilled work-ers and teachers, and reducing life expectancyby decades in some countries. There are anestimated 12.3 million African AIDS orphans.They face increased risk of malnutrition andreduced prospects for education. AIDS isblamed for declines in farm production insome countries and is seen as a major contrib-utor to hunger and famine.Donor governments, non-governmentalorganizations, and African governments haveresponded by supporting programs aimed atpreventing and reducing the number of newinfections and by trying to abate damage doneby AIDS to families, societies, and economies.The adequacy of this response is the subject of much debate.An estimated 500,000 Africa AIDSpatients were being treated with antiretroviraldrugs in mid-2005, up from 150,000 in mid-2004, but an estimated total of 4.7 millionpersons were in need of such therapy. U.S.and other initiatives are expected to sharplyexpand access to treatment in the near future.Advocates see this goal as an affordablemeans of reducing the impact of the pan-demic. Skeptics question whether drugs canbe made widely accessible without costlyhealth infrastructure improvements.U.S. concern over AIDS in Africa grewin the 1980s, as the epidemic’s severity be-came apparent. Legislation enacted in the106
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and the 107
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Congresses increasedfunding for worldwide AIDS programs. P.L.108-25, signed into law on May 27, 2003,authorized $15 billion over five years forinternational AIDS programs. President Bushannounced his Emergency Plan for AIDSRelief (PEPFAR) in his 2003 State of theUnion message. Twelve of 15 PEPFAR“focus countries” are in Africa. Under theFY2007 budget request, the 12 countrieswould receive a 61% boost in AIDS-relatedaid, to $1.99 billion, under the State Depart-ment’s Global HIV/AIDS Initiative account.Nonetheless, activists and others urge thatmore be done, given the scale of the Africanpandemic.
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