HIV & AIDS

The global AIDS crisis is one of the greatest humanitarian challenges of our time. In the 25 years since it was first diagnosed, AIDS has taken over 25 million lives. As of 2005, an estimated 39 million people are infected with HIV, nearly half of them women. CARE's work addresses the AIDS pandemic in countries around the world, with programs that prevent the spread of the virus, care for those affected and reduce the stigma of living with HIV & AIDS.

Your gift can help CARE fight poverty and the spread of HIV in countries around the world.

Background
The AIDS pandemic is inextricably linked to poverty and erodes the hard-won livelihoods of the world's poorest communities. AIDS is not only a health problem — it contributes to hunger, wipes out years of socio-economic progress and has disastrous financial effects on families. People in poor countries bear the brunt of the pandemic; two-thirds of all people living with HIV, over 24 million, live in sub-Saharan Africa. Though declines in HIV prevalence have been noted in some countries, such as Kenya and Zimbabwe, the overall number of people living with HIV has continued to increase in nearly all regions of the world.

CARE's Work
Beginning with one project in 1987, CARE's portfolio now includes over 156 projects with HIV & AIDS components in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. Through these projects, CARE works to prevent the spread of HIV, care for the ill and reduce the stigma of living with HIV and AIDS.

More specifically, CARE aims to slow the spread of HIV through activities that:

• Encourage prevention
• Include the input of people living with HIV
• Foster education
• Promote voluntary HIV testing
• Develop community networks to care for the sick
• Address the needs of orphans
• Provide access to and training for credit, savings and loans

CARE is also a member of the Hope for African Children Initiative, a community-based effort created to address the enormous challenges faced by millions of African children who have been orphaned by AIDS or live with parents who are sick or dying of an AIDS-related illness. HACI helps communities provide prevention, care and support services to children and their families affected by HIV & AIDS.

Feature Stories

• The AIDS Woman
  
  
• A Shining Example: Living with HIV in Niger
  
  
• HIV Prevention: Beyond the Abstinence Approach
  
  

All cited statistics are from UNAIDS 2006. You can read the latest UNAIDS statistics here.