HIV / AIDS in Africa.

The US Bureau of the Census maintains the HIV/AIDS Surveillance Data Base. Its Population Division has taken data from African countries to describe the levels and trends of HIV infection as they apply to geography time and population. The report focuses on recent patterns and trends emerging epidemics and the expanding spread of HIV. It considers commercial sex workers and STD (sexually transmitted disease) clinic patients as high risk populations and pregnant women and the general population as low risk populations. Blood donors are not representative of the general population since the HIV rate is decreasing among them while it is increasing among pregnant woman and in the general population. As of mid-1995 there have been an estimated more than 11 million adults infected with HIV in Africa with about 8.5 million still alive. 50-66% were in east and central Africa. AIDS is responsible for an increase in infant/child mortality in several countries and a decrease in life-expectancy. HIV-2 infection is limited to a few countries in West Africa and the former Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique. The prevalence of HIV-1 infection is highest in countries along the Rift Valley. Abidjan Ivory Coast is the epicenter of HIV-1 infection in West Africa. HIV infection is more common in urban areas than in rural areas. The HIV infection rate is high among commercial sex workers (e.g. between 1990 and 1993 in Abidjan 69-86%). The rate among STD clinic patients is as high as 70% for women and 60% for men. Husbands sex behavior puts many wives at risk as evidenced by increasing HIV infection rates among women with no risky sex behaviors in some African countries. Blood donor screening programs have been set up in many countries. HIV-infected women are younger than are HIV-infected men.