Putting HIV/AIDS in context
Since the beginning of the epidemic, HIV/AIDS has killed some 39 million people. If left untreated, HIV gradually weakens the body’s immune system, usually over a period of up to 10 years after infection.
Isabel Corthier
HIV/AIDS
Nearly 700,000 people died from HIV-related causes, while 1.5 million people became newly infected with the HIV virus in 2020.
38 million
people were living with HIV
in 2019
Nearly 500
children are newly infected with HIV every day
44,500
people received HIV drug treatment in MSF programs in 2023
News update
One of the largest and oldest projects in Doctors Without Borders/Médécins Sans Frontieres (MSF) history has reached a major milestone, 24 years after its launch to help people with HIV/AIDS access the care they need in Chiradzulu district, Malawi. After over 20 years of collaboration with MSF, Chiradzulu district health authorities and their partners have fully taken over all patients and activities between over the last two years, ensuring the continuity of HIV treatment and care. Out of 990,000 people living with HIV in Malawi today, 93 percent know their status, 91 percent are on ART, and 85 percent have suppressed viral loads.
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Facts about HIV/AIDS
HIV is most commonly spread by sexual activities and the exchange of body fluids.
It can also be transmitted through childbirth, breastfeeding, and sharing needles.
While some people may develop symptoms similar to flu within the first two to six weeks of catching the virus, others may not show symptoms for many years while the virus slowly replicates.
Once the initial flu-like symptoms disappear, HIV will not show any further symptoms for many years.
A person living with HIV is considered to have developed AIDS when their immune system is so weak it can no longer fight off certain opportunistic infections and diseases, such as pneumonia, meningitis, and some cancers. One of the most common opportunistic infections among people living with HIV/AIDS is tuberculosis (TB).
Despite the availability of affordable rapid tests for HIV, knowledge of HIV status remains low in sub-Saharan Africa where HIV prevalence is highest.
An estimated 60 percent of people living with HIV are unaware of their status and in some settings this figure is far lower; a study in Kenya in 2009, for example, found that only 16 percent of HIV-infected adults knew that they were infected.
According to the World Health Organization, there are 35 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, the majority of them in sub-Saharan Africa.
Nearly 500 children are newly infected with HIV every day. Without treatment, half of all infants with HIV will die before their second birthday.
While there is no cure for HIV/AIDS, treatments are much more successful than they used to be. A combination of drugs, known as antiretrovirals (ARVs), help combat the virus and enable people to live longer, healthier lives without their immune system rapidly declining.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) HIV/AIDS programs offer HIV testing with pre- and post-test counseling, treatment, and prevention of opportunistic infections, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, and provision of ARVs for people in the late stages of the disease.
Our programs also generally include support to prevention, education, and awareness activities to help people understand how to prevent the spread of the virus.
How MSF responds to HIV/AIDS
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) HIV/AIDS programs offer HIV testing with pre- and post-test counseling, treatment, and prevention of opportunistic infections, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, and provision of ARVs for people in the late stages of the disease.
Our programs also generally include support to prevention, education, and awareness activities to help people understand how to prevent the spread of the virus.
