In 1981 the first cases of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) were reported; three years later the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) responsible for AIDS was detected. Since then, the number of HIV infections has increased rapidly. By the end of 2005, the Joint United Nation Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimated that 38.6 million people worldwide were infected with HIV. More than 60 percent of all infections occurred in Sub Saharan Africa, where HIV prevalence among the adult population (15-49 years) had reached 6.1 percent at the end of 2005. In 2005, 2.7 million Africans became newly infected and 2.0 million died from causes related to HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS 2006). AIDS is now the fourth leading cause of death worldwide and the leading cause of death in Sub Saharan Africa (WHO 2002a).
The African HIV/AIDS epidemic has severe consequences, particularly in the most affected regions. AIDS lowers life expectancy, increases mortality and morbidity and leaves a growing number of households headed by single parents, grandparents or children. Since the disease affects predominantly prime-age adults in their most productive years, the epidemic has also a profound economic impact (Haacker 2004).
Preventing new infections is the only method we can employ to halt the epidemic, as there is currently no known cure or vaccine for AIDS. Existing antiretroviral therapies(ARVs) do not eliminate the virus, but inhibit the replication of the virus within the body, delay immune deterioration and prolong life.