Earlier this week the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS released a report with the news that the AIDS epidemic is getting worse in Africa. The entire world is experiencing a rise in the crisis, but nearly three out of four deaths from AIDS in 2006 were in Africa. It is estimated that there are currently 24.5 million people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for a disproportionate 64% of the world’s total HIV-positive population. Overall, the prevalence rate is generally leveling off, but it is doing so at alarmingly high rates.

Women are especially at risk for infection; for every two HIV-positive men, there are three HIV-positive women. Anti-retroviral therapies are eight times more accessible now than in 2003, with 17% of those in need of the treatment receiving it.

Click here to access the full report. For more information on the fight against the global AIDS pandemic, check out the Global Aids Alliance. To find out what you can do right now to make a difference, visit our "Want to Help?" page.