HIV - A scary word

Since its first appearance and reporting in 1981, it has managed to scare the world. Once infected, it destroys the person's immune system rendering the body vulnerable to common infections that rarely have an effect on people with a normal immune system. According to UNAIDS website, about 36.9 million people are infected with the disease. And 25% of these people do not know they have the disease.

The chart above presents the top 10 countries where HIV is prevalent. While in most cases, the prevalence is reducing over the years shown (2004 through 2014), it is increasing in South Africa and Namibia.

The chart also shows the age groups of HIV prevalence. You can interact with the chart by selecting the button next to the age group. You can also pause the animation by using the player control at the bottom.

HIV Prevalence by Group

Among the top countries, the following shows the HIV prevalence the among various groups.

For comparison, here is a chart showing the average prevalance amoung all countries by group. (Really puts into perspective how much higher the prevalence among the top countries is, doesn't it?)

And here is the distribution of prevalence among the top countries across all the groups. Note this is average for the years 2004 through 2014.

High Rates for all groups in Swaziland

The situation in Swaziland is very sobering, considering the high rates across all groups (especially when comparing with averages across all other countries). Probably demands special focus by policy makers.

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