HIV (AIDS)

AIDS is a chronic, life-threatening condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV interferes with your body's ability to fight viruses by attacking your immune system, bacteria and other disease causing factors. HIV causes you to become more susceptible to certain types of cancers and to infections your body might normally resist, such as pneumonia. The virus and the infection itself are known as HIV. "Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)" is the name given to the later stages of an HIV infection.

An estimated 39.5 million people have HIV worldwide. While the increased education and advocacy efforts have seen a decrease in statistics in some countries, infections have escalated or remained unchanged in others. The best hope for stemming the spread of HIV is continued prevention, treatment and education efforts.