AFRICA: Over 22.5m living with HIV/AIDS

Sub-Saharan Africa is the region most affected by the deadly HIV/AIDS virus throughout the world with 22.5 million people living with the virus, equivalent to two thirds of the world total, according to Kenya Minister of Special Programs, Esther Murugi at a conference in Nairobi. Speaking at an international conference on HIV/AIDS in the east African capital of Nairobi, Murugi said that in 2009, approximately 1.3 million people died of AIDS in this area, while 1.8 million people were infected by the virus. In Kenya, statistics show that the prevalence of AIDS stands at 6.3 percent a decline of 7.1 percent over 2007. Moreover, conference participants were all unanimous in stressing that male circumcision is used as a method of preventing HIV/AIDS, and congratulated Kenya and South Africa which circumcised four million people at the end of the year. Source: Rubakana Eddy, AfricaNews reporter in Bujumbura, Burundi < Prev   Next >