No all-clear on AIDS
Destatis, 05. December 2007
Although, compared to other diseases, the number of persons dying from or receiving treatment for AIDS is on the whole rather small, this disease of the immune system is again increasingly discussed in the media. The disease has become a topical issue in view of the World Aids Day on 1 December. The following statistical information is intended to provide an overview of the current situation regarding this disease.
Some preliminary remarks
AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) was and still is an incurable disease which is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV causes a chronic infection which progressively weakens the body's immune defence system, and infection with HIV is lifelong. The latency period, during which only few symptoms develop, takes an average 10 to 12 years (if the disease remains untreated). After that, so-called opportunistic infections and various types of cancer that are characteristic of AIDS frequently occur in the patients infected.
The history of the disease began in the 1960s. The first time HIV antibodies were detected in a blood sample was in Congo in 1959. In Germany, HIV was found in the blood of a patient from Frankfurt am Main only 23 years later. According to estimates of the Robert Koch Institute, a total of 82,000 persons have contracted the disease and 26,000 of them have died since that time.
The routes of transmission are however known. Apart from cerebrospinal fluid and liquor, the virus can be transmitted in blood, semen, vaginal fluids and breast milk. The most common routes of HIV transmission are through sexual intercourse, sharing contaminated injecting equipment and, to a small extent, receiving blood transfusions.
What are the relevant results of the causes of death statistics?
Persons deceased, by sex
In 2006, a total of 504 persons in Germany died from AIDS resulting from infection by HIV. Compared to 1996, this was a strong decline by more than 68%. There cannot be any doubt, though, that the disease continues to be highly dangerous. For some years, the number of persons dying from AIDS has remained almost unchanged. And still, people are usually rather young when they die from AIDS.
However, the life expectancy of AIDS patients has been further raised due to the application of new substances and combination therapies. Compared to 1996, the average age at death has risen by nearly eight years to 48.8 years. Compared to years before 1996, the increase is even more substantial. In 1984, patients suffering from AIDS died at an average age of 36.9 years. In general, life expectancy of men clearly exceeds that of women. In 2006, the life expectancy of women was 46.2 years and hence three years less than that of men (49.3 years). The difference in life expectancies has existed since the deaths of persons suffering from AIDS were recorded for the first time. As a matter of fact, women died at an age of 31.3 years in 1984, which was nearly 6.5 years earlier than men.
However, the share of men in the total of persons dying from AIDS is by far larger than that of women. The proportion of men has changed insignificantly over time. Amounting to 83%, it is considerably larger than that of women (17%).
Age structure of persons dying from AIDS, by sex
On the whole, the distribution of persons dying from AIDS is very uneven across the different age groups. 86.5% of the total of 504 persons who died in the reference year were in the group of persons aged 30 to 65 years.
What information is provided by hospital statistics?
The above age structure was also reflected in hospital patients who were treated for AIDS. A share of 84% of those who received in-patient treatment belonged to the group of people aged between 30 and 65 years. The proportions of persons younger than 30 and those older than 65 years were considerably smaller (11% and 4%, respectively). All in all, 2,119 cases were registered as being treated for AIDS in hospitals in 2005 (more recent data are not yet available). In 1996, their number still amounted to nearly 8,000. However, the decline in the above figures was characterised by variations. While the number of cases saw a rather strong decline of 2,000 to 6,000 between 1996 and 1998, the figure remained almost unchanged in the following three years before it declined again markedly (by 3,000 to 2,299 cases) between 2001 and 2004. Subsequently, a moderate decrease of 180 cases was recorded between 2004 and 2005.
Table: Number of persons receiving in-patient treatment for AIDS, by sex, 1994 to 2005
Situation across the world
The WHO and UNAIDS estimated the worldwide number of deaths due to AIDS at about 2.1 million adults and children in 2007 (2001: 1.7 million). According to estimates, a total of about 33.2 million were infected with the virus, while the number of new infections amounted to 2.5 million in 2007 (2001: 29.0 and 3.2 million, respectively).
Africa has been the continent most severely affected by the epidemic. The African countries south of the Sahara alone accounted for 1.6 million or 76% of the worldwide deaths estimated in 2007. A total of 22.5 million or 68% of all adults and children infected with AIDS worldwide lived in that region. The number of new infections amounted to 1.7 million or 68% of the number of cases estimated worldwide. As reported by the WHO and UNAIDS, about 5% of the adult population carried HIV.
The situation in Western and Central Europe was less severe than in other regions of the world. In 2007, 12,000 persons died from the disease of the immune system. The number of new infections was estimated at 31,000 cases (2001: 32,000 new infections). The total of adults and children infected with HIV amounted to approximately 760,000 in 2007.
In the territory of the European Union, a total of 5,595 persons died from HIV / AIDS in 2005 (source: Eurostat). However, the number of deaths differed considerably between the sexes: While the cases of death among men amounted to 4,355, their number totalled 1,240 among women. (Data are not yet available for 2006/07.)
Table: HIV-positive adults and children, in million
The complete UNAIDS 2007 Report is accessible at: http://www.unaids.org/en/
Author:
Torsten Schelhase – Federal Statistical Office
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