General statistics and prevalence

At the end of 2007, an estimated 230,000 people were living with HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean. Some 20,000 people were newly infected during 2007, and there were 14,000 deaths due to AIDS.

In two countries in this region - the Bahamas and Haiti - more than 2% of the adult population is living with HIV. Higher prevalence rates are found only in sub-Saharan Africa, making the Caribbean the second-most affected region in the world. Half of adults living with the virus are women.

AIDS is now one of the leading causes of death in some of these countries, with Haiti being the worst affected. An estimated 7,500 lives are lost each year to AIDS in Haiti, and thousands of children have been orphaned by the epidemic.

Trends and transmission routes

Overall, the main route of HIV transmission in the Caribbean is heterosexual sex. Much of this transmission is associated with commercial sex, but the virus is also spreading in the general population, especially in Haiti. Sex between men is also a major factor in some countries' epidemics. Cultural and behavioural patterns (such as early initiation of sexual acts, and taboos related to sex and sexuality), gender inequalities, lack of confidentiality, stigmatization and economic need are some of the factors influencing vulnerability to HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean.

Haiti's HIV prevalence levels have been very high since the late 1980s. Although the rate among pregnant women fell between 1996 and 2004, it has since remained stable. With very low condom use among young people, and about 60% of the population under 24, much scope exists for renewed growth in Haiti's mainly heterosexually-transmitted epidemic. On the other side of Hispaniola Island, in the Dominican Republic, HIV prevalence declined slightly between 2002 and 2007, possibly because of prevention efforts that encouraged people to have fewer sexual partners and increase condom use.

Provision of antiretrovirals

Countries in this region are making efforts to slow the epidemic and to limit its impact, most obviously through their efforts to provide antiretroviral drugs. In 2002, the Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV/AIDS signed an agreement with six pharmaceutical companies to provide access to cheaper antiretroviral drugs. Progress since then has been uneven, partly due to wide differences in drug prices.

Access to antiretroviral therapy is provided to all those in need in Cuba, and Barbados is close to this goal. However in Trinidad and Tobago, only 58% of those in need of treatment for AIDS were receiving it at the end of 2007, and rates in the four other large countries were even lower.

AVERT.org features further discussion of treatment and other issues connected with HIV & AIDS in the Caribbean, and information about universal access to AIDS treatment.

Estimated HIV/AIDS prevalence and deaths due to AIDS, end 2007

It should be noted that the above figures are estimates and are made with a large degree of uncertainty. For example, the number of people living with HIV in Haiti is estimated as being between 100,000 and 140,000, and the figure for Cuba lies in the range 3,600 to 12,000.

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AVERT.org has more about:

• HIV and AIDS statistics
• Latin America summary
• Incidence & prevalence
  
• AIDS Statistics America