back to top HIV & AIDS statistics
The statistics show that at the end of 2011, an estimated 230,000 people were living with HIV in the Caribbean. Some 13,000 people were newly infected during 2011, and 10,000 people died from AIDS.1
In the Bahamas, the country with the highest prevalence in the Caribbean, almost 3% of the adult population is living with HIV.2 This level of HIV prevalence is found only in sub-Saharan Africa, making the Caribbean the second most affected region in the world.3 Half of adults living with the virus are women.4
back to top Trends and transmission routes
Overall, the main route of HIV transmission in the Caribbean is heterosexual sex, with many new infections linked with commercial sex work.5 Sex between men is recently emerging as another major route of transmission in Caribbean countries. Cultural and behavioural patterns (such as early initiation of sexual acts, and taboos related to sex and sexuality), gender inequalities, lack of confidentiality, stigmatisation and economic need are some of the factors influencing vulnerability to HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean.
back to top Estimated HIV prevalence and deaths due to AIDS
Country | Living with HIV/AIDS |
Deaths due to AIDS per year (most recent estimate) |
ARV coverage % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
All people |
Adult (15-49) prevalence % |
|||
Bahamas | 6,500 | 2.8 | <500 | 40 |
Barbados | 1,400 | 0.9 | <100 | no data |
Belize | 4,600 | 2.3 | no data | 62 |
Cuba | 14,100 | 0.2 | <200 | >95 |
Dominican Republic | 44,000 | 0.7 | 1,700 | 80 |
Guyana | 6,200 | 1.1 | <500 | 82 |
Haiti | 120,000 |
1.8 |
5,800 | 58 |
Jamaica | 30,000 | 1.8 | 1,600 | 60 |
Suriname | 3,400 | 1.0 | <500 | 53 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 13,000 |
1.5 |
<1,000 | no data |
Where Next?
AVERT.org has more about:
Sources back to top
- UNAIDS (2012) 'AIDSinfo' - 2013
- WHO/UNAIDS/UNICEF (2010) 'Towards universal access:Scaling up priority HIV/AIDS interventions in the health sector' - 2010
References back to top
- UNAIDS (2012) 'Regional Fact Sheet 2012: Latin America and the Caribbean'
- UNAIDS (2012) 'Global Report 2012: AIDSinfo'
- UNAIDS (2012) 'Global Report: UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic 2012'
- UNAIDS (2010) 'The Status of HIV in the Caribbean'
- UNAIDS (2012) 'Regional Fact Sheet 2012: Latin America and the Caribbean'