• A British scientist, Professor Roy Anderson estimated that the AIDS epidemic would take up to 130 years to work through the entire global population, as per his modeled course of the virus.
• China called the AIDS epidemic a ‘living capitalism disease’, and for years believed that it was caused due to being in contact with the West. But in 2019, AIDS became China’s leading cause of death amongst all infectious diseases.
• Rock Hudson was the first major celebrity to go public with his AIDS diagnosis, in the year 1985. He was 59 years old then.
• In the United States, more than a million people are living with an HIV infection at the moment.
• Amongst those infected with HIV in the US, almost 1 person in 5 is unaware of their HIV diagnosis.
• Each year, more than 50,000 people contract HIV infection in the United States.

• The earliest reported case of HIV was from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The HIV – 1 virus was detected In a blood sample in 1959, in a man belonging to Kinshasa, Congo.
• More than 3.5 million children are living with HIV across the world. Most of the children diagnosed with HIV are from Sub-Saharan Africa, and were born to mothers with HI-positive diagnosis, or contracted it through breastfeeding. With a proper treatment in place, mother to child transmission of the HIV infection is completely avoidable.

Seth Doyle/Unsplash. More than 90% of the children suffering from HIV are from Sub Saharan Africa.

• Everyday, 900 children become infected with HIV from across the world.
• There are two strains of HIV. The most common and easily transmissible is the HIV-1, from the Central Common Chimpanzee. The other strain, the HIV-2, is from the Sooty Mangabey monkey. The first strain is the cause of most of the HIV positive cases, while the second is harder to transmit and is mainly limited to West Africa.
• The HIV infection is found in saliva, but is not transmitted through it, so it is safe to share utensils, cups and food with a HIV positive person.
• Looking at it from a geographical lens, the worst AIDS epidemic is faced by Sub-Saharan Africa. More than 65% of all the AIDS cases are from here. More than 90% of the children suffering from HIV from across the world reside here, too.

Kenny Eliason/Unsplash. The northeastern and southern states of the US are more infected by the HIV.

In the United States, states located in the northeast and south of the country report higher rates of HIV than other states.