In September 2003, the World Health Organization published a detailed review of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and surveil- lance practices in the 46 countries of the WHO African Region. The current report, HIV/AIDS epidemiological surveil- lance report for the WHO African Region: 2005 Update, provides the most recent update of the HIV/AIDS situation in that part of the world.
The report does not include national HIV/AIDS estimates or determinants for the Region’s HIV/AIDS epidemic. Rather, it offers a synthesis and analysis of data generated by HIV surveillance systems in the Region’s subregions and coun- tries. Data were drawn chiefly from surveillance of HIV among attendees of antenatal clinics (ANCs); population- based HIV serosurveys conducted in elected countries; behavioural data, primarily from the demographic and health surveys; and sexual behaviour surveys known as behavioural surveillance surveys (BSS). Additional data come from sexually transmitted infection (STI) surveillance and selected special studies and research.
Emerging trends in the Region are also highlighted in the report, particularly gender differences in the HIV/AIDS epidemic as well as the magnitude of HIV infection among young people.