back to top HIV & AIDS
statistics
The statistics show that at the end of 2009, an estimated 240,000 people were living with HIV in the Caribbean. Some 17,000 people were newly infected during 2009, and 12,000 people died from AIDS.
In the Bahamas more than 3% 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.
back to top Trends and transmission routes
Overall, the main route of HIV transmission in the Caribbean is heterosexual sex, much of which is associated with commercial sex. 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.
back to top Estimated HIV prevalence and deaths due to AIDS, end 2009
| Country | Living with HIV/AIDS |
Deaths due to AIDS during 2009 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
All people |
Adult (15-49) prevalence % |
||
| Bahamas | 6,600 | 3.1 | <500 |
| Barbados | 2,100 | 1.4 | <100 |
| Cuba | 7,100 | 0.1 | <100 |
| Dominican Republic | 57,000 | 0.9 | 2,300 |
| Haiti | 120,000 |
1.9 |
7,100 |
| Jamaica | 32,000 | 1.7 | 1,200 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 15,000 |
1.5 |
<1,000 |
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 the Bahamas is estimated as being between 2,600 and 11,000.
back to top Provision of
antiretroviral drugs
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 almost all those in need in Cuba. However in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Haiti, HIV treatment coverage reaches less than half those in need, at 47%, 46% and 43% respectively.1 Find out more about universal access to AIDS treatment.
