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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 2004;291:31-32.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The global AIDS epidemic infected an estimated 5 million individuals in 2003, bringing the world total of individuals living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and AIDS to 40 million, said officials from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). The disease claimed about 3 million lives—the highest toll ever for a single year.

Although sub-Saharan Africa remains the most severely affected region, tallying two thirds of all infections and more than two thirds of all deaths, HIV also is spreading rapidly in Eastern Europe and making worrisome inroads in Asia, threatening the immense populations of China and India.

"The epidemic continues to expand," said Peter Piot, MD, PhD, executive director of UNAIDS, during a telephone press conference from London to highlight findings from the annual report on the global AIDS epidemic prepared by UNAIDS and the World Health Organization (WHO). "It is tightening its grip on . . . [Full Text of this Article]