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The Caribbean
UNAIDS estimates that 440,000 people were living with HIV/AIDS in the Caribbeanat the end of 2002. An estimated 60,000 people were newly infected with HIV during 2002 and 42,000 deaths due to AIDS occurred during 2002.
Over the past decade, the ratio of men with HIV to women with HIV has narrowed considerably—to about 2-to-1.
By and large the epidemic in the Caribbean is concentrated among heterosexuals, with sex between men and women being the main route of transmission. There is also evidence of a high rate of HIV infection among injecting drug users in Puerto Rico and among men who have sex with men in Jamaica and Haiti.
Rates of seroprevlence among men who have sex with men in Jamaica rose from around 10% in 1985 to 15% in 1986, then doubled to 30% over the next decade.
Twelve countries in this region, including the Dominican Republic and Haiti, several Central American countries (such as Belize and Honduras), and Guyana and Suriname, have an estimated HIV prevalence of 1% or more among pregnant women. In several Caribbean countries, adult HIV prevalence rates are surpassed only by the rates experienced in sub-Saharan Africa—making the Carribbean the second-most affected region in the world.
The worst affected countries are;
Haiti
6% of the adult population are estimated to be living with HIV. Haiti has by far the worst epidemic of all the countries in the Caribbean. By the end of 1999, it has been estimated that almost 75,000 children had become orphaned by the epidemic. The heterosexual epidemic of the Caribbean has two major driving forces; the early initiation of sexual relationships and the high turnover of sexual partners, common among young people. As is the case in Africa, girls are placed at risk of infection because of the fact that there is much sexual mixing, with young girls frequently becoming the partners of older men.
Dominican Republic
130,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, or 2.80% of the adult population.
Sentinel surveillance data from 1991 to 2001 suggest that HIV prevalence among pregnant women has stabilsed or perhaps begun to decline in the Dominican Republic (where estimated adult HIV prevalence was 2.5% in 2001). These findings appear to correlate with evidence of increased condom use among female sex workers and a reduction in the number of sexual partners among men.
Bahamas
6,900 people living with HIV/AIDS, or 4.13% of the adult population.
Trinidad and Tobago
7,800 people living with HIV/AIDS, or 1.05% of the adult population.