Staggering Statistics

I recently read a book, AIDS Is Real and it's in our CHURCH by Jean Garland and Dr. Mike Blyth. (First published in 2003.) It is an excellent book, especially if you are working anyplace in Africa. I especially liked the true life stories and the cultural facts. It opened my eyes to a lot of things...

~ 42 million people are living with HIV/AIDS worldwide and 29.4 million live in sub-Saharan Africa.
~ In 16 countries in Africa, more than 1 in 10 adults is living with HIV.
~ In seven countries in the south of Africa, one in five adults are living with HIV.
~ 13 million children worldwide are orphans due to AIDS.
~ 2/3 of all people living with HIV/AIDS are in sub-Saharan Africa, although only 10% of the world's population lives there.
~ Many, if not most, African women living with HIV/AIDS were infected by their husbands.
~ 800,000 African children were newly infected in 2001.
3.5 million Africans were newly infected in 2002.
~ 9 out of ten people infected with HIV are unaware that they have it.
~ HIV test can read positive for the first three months the person is infected.
~ 80% - 90% HIV infections in Africa occur through sexual intercourse.
~ 10% of all HIV infections are passed on from mother to child.
~ You cannot know if a baby is HIV positive until 18 months after birth.
~ 5% - 10% HIV infections in Africa are from blood transfusions.
~ About 5% of HIV infections are from sharing needles, blades & other sharp objects.
~There are some cases of the HIV virus surviving in water for up to 2 weeks and up to 7 days in a dry, dusty climate.
~ Half the sex workers in Ghana are HIV positive.
~ Most people who are HIV positive in Africa are in the 20 - 40 year old age bracket.
~ Condoms are only 80% effective in preventing HIV.
~ AIDS is the leading cause of death in Africa.
~ In Sub-Saharan Africa, life expectancy has dropped from 62 years to 47 years because of HIV.
~ In Zambia, teacher deaths from AIDS is equal to half the total of new teachers trained annually in the country.
~ Ghana has a relatively low HIV rate, 1.5%. In the Upper West Region, it is 6%.
~ In the last 20 years, AIDS has killed ten times more people than all of the wars in Africa in the last 100 years.

These statistics show that, as Christians, we have a job to do. If we believe as John Wesley did, "The world is my parish", what are we doing to be Christ to those who desperately need Him? I have read that HIV has another meaning, one that is so very important to those who are HIV positive...

HIV...HOPE IS VITAL!