HIV Analysis

           HIV/AIDS is a deadly disease as we all know, but who does it affect? With the help of Gapminder.org I was able to take a closer look at this question. I didn’t look at a specific area of the globe because I wished to understand how widespread this disease is. The three graphs that I used were: total number infected, percentage of population ages 15-49 that are infected, and percentage of population that are newly affected with HIV.

            Link to Statistical Map

          The first thing that popped out at me as important was that HIV is everywhere. Many times people just assume that this disease is only a problem in developing countries. However, just by looking at the first map anyone can see that well established countries are affected as well. The first graph doesn’t tell the whole story though. It is based solely on population size. Meaning, the more populated areas of the world are going to have a higher number of HIV viruses. When looking at the percentages of the population infected, a much clearer picture can be painted of which area of the world is most affected by HIV. The United States, China and India, barely register on this graph, whereas southern Africa almost jumps out of the computer.

            The real question isn’t what countries are infected, but how can countries slow the spread of HIV. The last graph I looked at is a good indicator of countries that understand HIV. By simulating the map graph based on the percentage of newly infected people, one can see that the percentages over the years have gone down for the entire world. However, it is easy to see that the southern half of Africa and other developing areas of the world have decreased at a much slower rate than the rest of the world. Though the percentages are dropping I believe it is important governments educate their citizens to ultimately put an end to this deadly disease, HIV. 

Tate DeMeulenaere