The HIV/AIDS epidemic has already claimed over 20 million lives and another 39 million people are currently estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS worldwide.  HIV/AIDS cases have been reported in all regions of the world.

HIV/AIDS in Georgia

• Georgia has the eighth highest number of AIDS cases in the United States, with 28,961 cases reported as of the end of 2003. Almost half of these have died.
• As many as 29,000 people in Georgia may be infected with HIV.
  (NOTE: Georgia began collecting AIDS data in 1982. HIV infection reporting was not required until 2004.)
• The Atlanta metro area has 70% of all AIDS cases.

Minorities & AIDS

• AIDS is the leading cause of death for African-American men ages 35-44 in Georgia.
• 83% of women with AIDS in Georgia are African-American.
• 78% of all pediatric AIDS cases reported in Georgia are among African-Americans.
• African-Americans represent 29% of the population and 64% of AIDS cases in Georgia.
• Hispanics represent 4% of AIDS cases in Georgia.

• 44% of women with AIDS in Georgia become infected through sex with infected men. Most women do not know whether their sex partner is HIV-infected.
• 80% (4 out of every 5) of women reported with AIDS in Georgia are of childbearing age (15-44).
• AIDS is the leading cause of death among African-American women in Georgia ages 25-34.
• 52% of the women with AIDS in Georgia live outside the 20-county Atlanta metropolitan areas.