HIV/AIDS Overview

HIV/AIDS is a preventable, treatable disease—and millions of people are living with it.

• In 2007, an estimated 33.2 million people worldwide were living with HIV/AIDS—including 22.5 million in sub-Saharan Africa and another 4 million in South and Southeast Asia.
• Every year, an estimated 2.3 million people are newly infected with HIV; that translates to more than 6,000 new infections every day.

HIV prevention works.

Many countries have made progress in reducing the number of new HIV infections through comprehensive prevention efforts. However, much work needs to be done.

• Fewer than one in five people at greatest risk of infection have access to effective prevention programs, such as education, condom distribution, prevention of mother to child HIV transmission, and HIV testing.
• It’s estimated that new HIV infections could be cut in half by 2015 if effective prevention programs are expanded and reach those at greatest risk of HIV infection.

HIV treatment works.

• Expanded access to treatment has added 3.2 million “life years” in low- and middle-income countries since 2002.
• Treatment has been shown to quadruple the immune cells that help protect the body from infection.
• A recent study in Kenya found that workers receiving HIV therapy were able to work twice as many days each month than they could have worked without treatment.
• At the end of 2007, an estimated 3 million people in low- and middle-income countries were receiving antiretroviral HIV therapy, up from 2 million in 2006.
• But for every person who gained access to HIV treatment in 2007, more than two people became infected.

A vaccine and other new prevention options are urgently needed.

Despite the proven effectiveness of existing prevention approaches, they have limitations. For example, many women are not in a position to insist that their partners wear condoms. The development of a vaccine and other new prevention options is critical for successfully fighting the epidemic, especially in developing countries.

HIV weakens the immune system, leading not only to AIDS but also to deadly diseases such as tuberculosis.

Infection with HIV increases the chances of becoming infected with tuberculosis and the chances that someone infected with TB will develop the active disease. In fact, TB is now the leading cause of death among people with HIV/AIDS. We can’t effectively fight AIDS without also fighting TB.

The world is devoting more money and attention to AIDS than ever before and it’s critical to continue these investments.

New efforts--such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria and the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)--are providing significant resources to treat and prevent HIV/AIDS. These efforts are beginning to show positive results, and it’s essential that they be continued and expanded for the long term.

Our goals are to stop the spread of HIV by expanding access to successful prevention strategies and to identify and research new ways to prevent HIV transmission.

Next: Our Approach

Fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic requires global coordination, and we’re working with partners around the world to strengthen efforts to treat and prevent the disease. We support the following strategies:

Expand access to prevention and treatment in developing countries.

Our primary partner in this effort is the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, which supports antiretroviral treatment for an estimated 1.75 million people living with HIV. This is a 59 percent increase over results reported in 2007. About 60 percent of people worldwide who receive HIV treatment receive it through Global Fund-supported programs.

Support model country programs to fight AIDS.

• In 2003, the foundation launched Avahan – an initiative to support India’s efforts to reduce the spread of HIV. Avahan – which means “call to action” in Sanskrit – has committed $330 million to expand HIV prevention programs in the six Indian states with highest HIV prevalence, and along the nation’s major trucking routes. Avahan-supported prevention programs target groups that are most vulnerable to HIV infection. These groups include sex workers, their clients and partners; high-risk men who have sex with men, and injecting drug users.
• We also support a comprehensive HIV treatment and prevention program in a unique public-private partnership with the government of Botswana.
• We support HIV prevention efforts in China through a partnership with government and civil organizations working with groups at high risk and those already HIV-positive.

Support efforts to improve and expand voluntary male circumcision services.

Three conclusive studies conducted in African countries have shown that male circumcision dramatically reduces a man's chances of acquiring HIV from an infected woman. We’re working with grantees and partners to transform this clinical knowledge into a public-health strategy that can save millions of lives.

Develop an effective HIV vaccine.

A safe and effective HIV vaccine is the best long-term hope to stop the global AIDS epidemic. To help achieve this goal, we support a range of research efforts, including the work of the Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery (CAVD).

• This international network of research consortia is working collaboratively to pursue innovative and promising approaches for an effective HIV vaccine.
• The CAVD has brought together more than 200 scientists and experts from 22 countries, some of whom have never before focused on HIV vaccines.
• We also fund innovative HIV vaccine research in the private sector through a partnership with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.

Research and learn about new HIV prevention methods.

We support research of microbicides--topical gels to reduce the risk of contracting HIV--and oral prevention drugs. While there have been some recent setbacks in microbicide research, setbacks are a natural part of the scientific process. When we discover what doesn’t work, we gain knowledge that eventually will help us learn what does work. We’re now supporting the development of a new generation of microbicides.

Advocate for increased global awareness and resources for HIV/AIDS.

We support organizations that are global advocates for HIV/AIDS, including UNAIDS, the Global HIV Prevention Working Group, the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, and the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition. We also support the HIV Collaborative Fund that advocates at the community level.