• At least 40 million people are infected with HIV worldwide, and 20 million people have died of AIDS related causes.
• Sub-Saharan Africa is home to only 11 percent of the world's population, yet it is the region worst affected by HIV/AIDS: 70 percent of all people infected with the disease live in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Three million people died of AIDS related causes in 2003, and 75 percent of these deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa. Five million people became infected, and 3.2 million of these new infections appeared in sub-Saharan Africa.
• 90 percent of the 40 million people who are living with HIV/AIDS are in their most productive years.
• Young people between the ages of 15-24 account for 42 percent of new HIV infections and represent almost one third of the people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. Every day 7,000 young people under the age of 25 contract HIV.
• Globally, 14 million children have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS. By 2010, the number of children orphaned by AIDS is predicted to rise to close to 25 million.

*Statistics are based on 2003 data from UNAIDS and the ILO