HIV and AIDS in Namibia
Globally, 33 million people were living with HIV in 2007. Two-thirds of those affected by the epidemic live in sub-Saharan Africa: 67% of all people living with HIV and 75% of AIDS deaths in 2007 were in sub-Saharan Africa.
Young people aged 15–24 account for almost half of all new HIV infections worldwide.
In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 12 million children under age 18 have lost one or both parents to HIV. National adult HIV infection levels are highest in southern Africa, including Swaziland, Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa and Namibia.
In Namibia, the adult HIV prevalence rate is 17.8% and in 2007, an estimated 200,000 people were living with HIV in Namibia. As the second most sparsely populated country in the world and the country with the highest income disparity, Namibia’s HIV epidemic has significant and dire impact on young people. “The United Nations reports that the poorest 20 percent of Namibia’s population earns only 1.4 percent of the national income versus the richest 20 percent of the population that earns 78.7 percent of the national income. Household food security and access to services are limited for the vast majority of the population.”
Background on HIV and HIV in Namibia: versus the richest 20 percent of the population that earns 78.7 percent of the national income. Household food security and access to services are limited for the vast majority of the population.”
The depth and breadth of poverty in Namibia contributes to the widespread impact of HIV, with the burden increasingly on young people. The number of orphans and vulnerable children is increasing dramatically as parents and caretakers succumb to the disease. The extended family is rapidly becoming overburdened and unable to care for these children. Namibia’s population is young, with 70% of Namibians under the age of 30 and 43% under the age of 15. In Namibia alone, about 120,000 children under age 17 have lost one or both parents; about 57,000 of these children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS.
The HIV epidemic varies in intensity and severity throughout the country, with prevalence rates as low as 4.7% and as high as 31.7%. The spread of HIV/AIDS is exacerbated by high unemployment rates, poverty and violence against women and children. Mostly due to the HIV epidemic, life expectancy in Namibia has dropped by 10 years in the last decade. At 52, life expectancy is now at the level it was in 1970.
For more information, read the BBC’s Namibia country profile here.
