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Key Facts

• HIV remains a major public health threat worldwide and is estimated to have caused 44.1 million deaths to date. Transmission of the virus continues in all countries of the world.
• At the end of 2024, the global number of people living with HIV was estimated at 40.8 million, of whom 65% lived in the WHO African Region.
• In 2024, an estimated 630 000 people died from HIV-related causes and 1.3 million new HIV infections occurred.
• There is no method to cure HIV infection. However, with the advent of access to effective prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care for HIV and opportunistic infections, HIV infection has become a treatable chronic disease, allowing people living with HIV to live long, healthy lives.
• WHO, the Global Fund and UNAIDS have adopted global HIV strategies that are consistent with SDG target 3.3 to end the HIV epidemic by 2030.
• By 2025, 95% of all people living with HIV should know their status, 95% of them should receive life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 95% of people living with HIV on treatment should achieve viral suppression to improve their health and reduce the risk of onward HIV transmission. In 2024, these figures were 87%, 89% and 94%, respectively.
• In 2024, 87% of people living with HIV knew their status, 77% were receiving antiretroviral therapy, and 73% had a suppressed viral load.

General information

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a virus that attacks the body's immune system. At the most advanced stage of HIV infection, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) occurs.

HIV attacks white blood cells, weakening the immune system. This increases the likelihood of developing diseases such as tuberculosis, infectious diseases and some types of cancer.

HIV is transmitted through the body fluids of infected individuals, including blood, breast milk, semen, and vaginal secretions. Transmission of the infection does not occur through kissing, hugging, or sharing food. HIV can also be transmitted from mother to child.

HIV infection can be prevented and treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART). If left untreated, HIV infection can lead to the development of AIDS, often many years after infection.

WHO currently defines late-stage HIV infection in adults and adolescents as depletion of the CD4 cell population to less than 200 cells/mm3 or the presence of clinical manifestations corresponding to WHO stage 3 or 4. The diagnosis of “late stage HIV infection” is usually given to all HIV-infected children under the age of five years, regardless of their clinical or immunological status.

Signs and symptoms

Signs and symptoms of HIV vary depending on the stage of infection.

An HIV-infected person is more likely to pass the virus on to other people in the first months after infection, but many such people do not learn about their status until later in life. During the first weeks after infection, the infection may be asymptomatic. In some infected people, it resembles the flu with symptoms such as:

• increase in temperature;
• headache;
• rash;
• sore throat.

The infection gradually weakens the immune system. This may lead to other signs and symptoms:

• lymphadenopathy;
• weight loss;
• increase in temperature;
• diarrhea;
• cough.

Without treatment, people with HIV infection can also develop severe illnesses, including:

• tuberculosis;
• cryptococcal meningitis;
• severe bacterial infections;
• oncological diseases, in particular lymphomas and Kaposi's sarcoma.

HIV can aggravate other infections, particularly hepatitis B and C and monkeypox.

Transfer HIV

HIV can be transmitted through the body fluids of HIV-infected people, including blood, breast milk, semen, and vaginal secretions. HIV can also be transmitted to a baby during pregnancy and childbirth. HIV transmission does not occur through normal everyday contact such as kissing, hugging and shaking hands, or through sharing personal items or drinking food or water.

HIV-infected people on ART who have an undetectable viral load do not transmit the virus to their sexual partners. Therefore, timely initiation of ART and formation of adherence to treatment are necessary not only to maintain the health of people with HIV infection, but also to prevent its transmission.

Risk factors

Behavioral factors and situations that increase the risk of contracting HIV include:

• anal or vaginal sex without a condom;
• having another sexually transmitted infection (STI), such as syphilis, herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea and bacterial vaginosis;
• alcohol abuse or drug use in the context of sexual contacts;
• sharing contaminated needles, syringes and other injection equipment or solutions when using injecting drugs;
• unsafe administration of injections, blood transfusions, or tissue transplants;
• performing medical procedures involving cutting or puncturing tissue under non-sterile conditions; and accidental needlestick injuries, including among health care workers.