The HIV and AIDS pandemic threaten millions of lives. Nations, communities, and families have lost the leaders of today and tomorrow. Healthcare systems have been overwhelmed, economies undermined and schools robbed of both students and teachers.

> Read more about the HIV pandemic

> What is HIV and AIDS

> What is Samaritan's Purse doing

The problem

• There are 42 million men, women, and children living with HIV/AIDS.
• Every hour, an average of 350 people die of AIDS.
• Every day, 14,000 people are newly infected with HIV.
• Every year, 3,000,000 children lose one or both parents to AIDS.
• Nine million children in Africa have lost their mothers to Aids. The figure is equivalent to the total number of children in the United Kingdom under the age of 13

AIDS has killed at least 40 million people worldwide, and another 42 million are living with AIDS or HIV infection. To put those numbers in stark perspective, imagine the map of Europe, now wipe out Spain . That is how many people already died of AIDS.

The pandemic is worst in Africa , where 19 million have died, 28 million are infected, and 13 million children have been orphaned.

But no region is spared.

Eastern Europe and Central Asia have the fastest growing epidemic, as cases of infection grew by 25 percent last year. Epidemiologists warn that India , with an HIV-infected population of 4 million, could have more AIDS cases by 2010 than all of Africa has today.

“This is a threat to an entire generation; this is a threat to an entire civilization,” said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

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What is HIV and AIDS?

AIDS

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, is a disease which attacks the body's immune system, hindering its ability to fight infections and certain types of cancer.

HIV

AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which can be spread through sexual contact and the exchange of certain contaminated bodily fluids such as blood and mother's milk. There is no evidence to suggest that it is spread through sweat, tears, mucous or saliva and the virus cannot be contracted through casual contact like hugging or sharing food utensils.

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What Samaritan's Purse is doing?

In spite of the disastrous statistics surrounding the AIDS pandemic, there is hope, and the we can play a key role in defeating this modern-day plague.

Samaritan's Purse is fighting the spread of HIV through:

>Prevention programmes
>Care programmes for Orphans and Vulnerable Children
>Care for People Living with HIV and AIDS
>Advocacy programmes

> Read more about our work

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