Facts and Figures: HIV and women
In 2019, there were 38.0 million [31.6 million–44.5 million] people living with HIV.
- 36.2 million [30.2 million–42.5 million] adults.
- 1.8 million [1.3 million–2.2 million] children (0–14 years).
81% [68–95%] of all people living with HIV knew their HIV status.
About 7.1 million people did not know that they were living with HIV.
Women
Women and girls accounted for about 48% of all new global HIV infections in 2019. In sub-Saharan Africa, women and girls accounted for 59% of all new HIV infections.
Every week, around 5500 young women aged 15–24 years become infected with HIV. - In sub-Saharan Africa, five in six new infections among adolescents aged 15–19 years are among girls. Young women aged 15–24 years are twice as likely to be living with HIV than men.
More than one third (35%) of women around the world have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence by a non-partner at some time in their lives. - In some regions, women who have experienced physical or sexual intimate partner violence are 1.5 times more likely to acquire HIV than women who have not experienced such violence.
Total new HIV diagnoses in the UK
The most recent estimated numbers of people living with HIV in the UK in 2019 was 105,200 people, of these around 6,600 are undiagnosed so do not know they are HIV positive.
The total number of people newly diagnosed with HIV continued to decrease in 2019 to 4,139 (1,139 females and 3,000 males [i]); a 10% fall from 4,580 in 2018.
In 2019, a total of 98,552 [ii] people (30,388 females and 68,088 males) were seen for HIV care in the UK. The number of deaths among people with HIV has remained stable with 622 deaths (498 males and 124 females) in 2019. This represents a crude mortality rate of 631 per 100,000 population living with diagnosed HIV infection.
Coverage of HIV testing among black African and non-black African heterosexuals
The largest group of eligible attendees who were not tested at specialist SHS were non-black African heterosexual women attending services outside London. Over one quarter of a million (273,562) of these women were not tested for HIV in 2018, accounting for 49% of all eligible attendees who were not tested at specialist SHS. HIV test coverage among black African heterosexual men and women (83% and 65%) was higher than among non-black African heterosexual men and women (77% and 56%). This was because 14% of black African heterosexuals declined a test offer compared to 21% of non-black African heterosexuals.