Mapping the
AIDS Epidemic's Hot Zone
The HIV plague is at its most devastating in 29 nations
of sub-Saharan Africa, according to the United Nations.
Across the AIDS hot zone, women are infected as frequently
as men—often at the very beginning of their sexual
maturity—and when they die, they often leave orphans
behind.
Newsweek, January 17, 2000
Historical comparisons
- Children who have lost one or both parents
- Orphans in United States after WWII: 183,000
- Orphans in Europe after WWII: 13 million
- Orphans and children separated from families in Rwanda 1994 genocide: 400,000
*NO ORPHAN DATA AVAILABLE. † AGES 15 AND ABOVE. ALL NUMBERS ARE ESTIMATES. SOURCES: INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS, UNICEF, UNAIDS, UNITED NATIONS, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION. ORIGINAL GRAPHIC BY BONNIE SCRANTON—NEWSWEEK