HIV remains one of the world's most significant public health challenges, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
As a result of advances in access to antiretroviral therapy (ART), HIV-positive people now live longer and healthier lives. In addition, it has been confirmed that ART prevents onward transmission of HIV.
An estimated 29.8 million people were receiving HIV treatment in 2022. Globally, 76% of the 39.0 million people living with HIV in 2022 were receiving ART.
Progress has also been made in preventing and eliminating mother-to-child transmission and keeping mothers alive. In 2022, 82% of all pregnant women living with HIV, or 1.2 million women, received antiretrovirals (ARVs).
WHO has released a set of normative guidelines and provides support to countries in formulating and implementing policies and programmes to improve and scale up HIV prevention, testing, treatment, monitoring, care and support services for all people in need.
This fact file provides current data on the disease, and ways to prevent and treat it.
Infection results in the progressive deterioration of the immune system, breaking down the body's ability to fend off some infections and other diseases. AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) refers to the most advanced clinical stage of HIV infection, defined by the occurrence of any of more than 20 opportunistic infections or related cancers associated with the disease.
If the reproduction of HIV stops, then the body's immune cells are able to live longer and provide the body with protection from infections. Effective ART results in a reduction in viral load, the amount of virus in the body, greatly reducing the risk of transmitting the virus to sexual partners. If the HIV-positive partner in a couple is on effective ART and has an undetectable viral load, there is zero risk of sexual transmission to the HIV-negative partner. Expanding coverage of HIV treatment contributes to HIV prevention efforts.
Key ways to prevent HIV transmission:
HIV can be transmitted through:
Access to preventive interventions remains limited in many low- and middle-income countries. But progress has been made in some areas such as prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and keeping mothers alive. In 2022, 82% of all pregnant women living with HIV – 1.2 million women – received antiretrovirals worldwide. In 2015, Cuba was the first country declared by WHO as having eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. By the end of 2022, 16 countries and territories were validated for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
Globally, an estimated 39.0 million [33.1–45.7 million] people were living with HIV in 2022, and 1.5 million [1.2–2.1 million] of these were children. The vast majority of people living with HIV are in low- and middle-income countries. An estimated 1.3 million [1.0–1.7 million] people acquired HIV in 2022. Up to 40.4 million [32.9–51.3 million] people have died from HIV-related causes so far, including 630 000 [480 000–880 000] people in 2022.
According to 2022 figures, most of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa and were infected through transmission from their HIV-positive mothers during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding. Around 130 000 children [90 000–210 000] acquired HIV in 2022 globally.
Access to HIV testing should be improved to make sure everyone with HIV is diagnosed and linked to treatment or appropriate and effective prevention choices. There are still gaps in HIV testing coverage, as an estimated 14% of people with HIV or 5.5 million people remain undiagnosed. WHO recommends HIV-self-testing, partner and social network testing as additional effective approaches to increase HIV testing access.
Of these, 26.6 million lived in low- and middle-income countries. Since 2016, WHO has recommended that all people living with HIV be provided with lifelong ART, including children, adolescents, adults and pregnant and breastfeeding women, regardless of clinical status or CD4 cell count. In 2021, WHO released the "Consolidated guidelines on HIV prevention, testing, treatment, service delivery and monitoring: recommendations for a public health approach”. These consolidated guidelines bring together existing and new clinical and programmatic recommendations across different ages, populations and settings, bringing together all relevant WHO guidance on HIV produced since 2016. It serves as an update to the previous edition of the consolidated guidelines on HIV.
In 2021, an estimated 6.7% of the 10.6 million people who developed TB worldwide were living with HIV. In the same year approximately 187 000 deaths from tuberculosis occurred among people living with HIV. The WHO African Region accounted for 73% of the estimated number of HIV-related TB deaths.