[9] HIV originated in nonhuman primates in Central Africa and jumped to humans several times in the late 19th or early 20th century.

[10][11][12] One reconstruction of its genetic history suggests that HIV-1 group M, the strain most responsible for the global epidemic, may have originated in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, around 1920.

[19] From 2010 to 2020, HIV infections increased by 21% in Latin America, 22% in the Middle East and North Africa, and 72% in Eastern Europe and central Asia.

The widespread prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases, the promiscuous culture,[44] the practice of scarification, unsafe blood transfusions, and the poor state of hygiene and nutrition in some areas may all be facilitating factors in the transmission of HIV-1 (Bentwich et al., 1995).

Due to a lack of testing, a shortage in antenatal therapies and through the feeding of contaminated breast milk, 590,000 infants born in developing countries are infected with HIV-1 per year.

[46] Poor economic conditions (leading to the use of dirty needles in healthcare clinics) and lack of sex education contribute to high rates of infection.

Poor economic conditions caused by slow onset-emergencies, such as drought, or rapid onset natural disasters and conflict can result in young women and girls being forced into using sex as a survival strategy.

[47] Worse still, research indicates that as emergencies, such as drought, take their toll and the number of potential 'clients' decreases, women are forced by clients to accept greater risks, such as not using contraceptives.

Denialist policies by former South African President Thabo Mbeki's administration led to several hundred thousand unnecessary deaths.

[51] As of 2021, UNAIDS data from the eastern and southern countries in Africa showed the HIV prevalence rate to be 6.2% in adults ages 15–49.

[53] During COVID-19, some countries in South and East Africa were able to set up treatment sites that provided 1.8 million individuals with a larger supply of antiretroviral (ART) medication that could sustain them for longer than the typical 3 months.

[54] South Africa also saw that those infected with HIV had a great risk of complications if they contracted the COVID-19 virus, and more so if they were not receiving ART.

First, unlike the global downward trend in new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths, the numbers have continuously increased in the MENA.

[57][58] The low participation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) increases not only the number of AIDS-related deaths but the risk of mother-to-baby HIV infections, in which the MENA (24.7%) shows relatively high rates compared to other regions, for example, southern Africa (10%), Asia and the Pacific (17%).

[56] The geographical size and human diversity of South and South-East Asia have resulted in HIV epidemics differing across the region.

In 2015, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Indonesia, Nepal, and Thailand all achieved the 200 needles distributed per PWID standard set by the World Health Organization (WHO) five years before the 2020 goal.

[67] East Asia has an estimates 3.5 million people living with HIV, with prevalence low in the 15-49 age range.

[68] In the early 1990s, HIV spread in rural China through commercial plasma donations due to the lack of adequate infection prevention and control.

[citation needed] With HIV/AIDS incidence levels rising in Central America, education is the most important step in controlling the spread of this disease.

Regionally, the population rates (per 100,000 people) of persons diagnosed with HIV infection in 2015 were highest in the South (16.8), followed by the Northeast (11.6), the West (9.8), and the Midwest (7.6).

The highest incidence rates have continued to be measured in the South, with approximately 13% of the population unaware of their HIV status.

In 2012, a meta-analysis showed that the rates of psychological trauma, including Intimate Partner Violence and PTSD in HIV positive women were more than five times and twice the national averages, respectively.

[94] In 2013, the White House commissioned an Interagency Federal Working Group to address the intersection of violence and women infected with HIV.

[96] There are also geographic disparities in AIDS prevalence in the United States, where it is most common in the large cities of California, esp.

[102] In most countries of Western Europe, AIDS cases have fallen to levels not seen since the original outbreak; many attribute this trend to aggressive educational campaigns, screening of blood transfusions and increased use of condoms.

However, in some countries, a large share of HIV infections remain undiagnosed and there is worrying evidence of antiretroviral drug resistance among some newly HIV-infected individuals in this region.

[111] Other agencies like the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases have also made substantial efforts to provide the latest and newest research and treatment available.

[citation needed] The NIH found that in certain areas of the world, the correlation in risky behaviors and the acquisition of HIV/AIDS is causational.

[112] Most organizations work collectively around the globe to understand, diagnose, treat, and battle the spread of this notorious disease, through the use of intervention and preventive programs the risk of acquiring HIV and the development of AIDS has dramatically dropped by 40% since its peak of cases back in 1998.

HIV treatment access is key to the global effort to end AIDS as a public health threat.