AIDS was first identified in the USA in 1981. Human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, is the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The virus weakens a person's ability to fight infections and cancer. People with HIV are said to have AIDS when they develop certain infections or cancers or when their CD4 count is less than 200The epidemic has now spread to every part of the USA and to all sectors of society.According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in the U.S. the estimated number of people with HIV/AIDS is about 1,185,000 with approximately 25% of them unaware of their infection. The estimated number of new cases of HIV is 42,000 each year. A person gets HIV when an infected person's body fluids (blood, semen, fluids from the vagina or breast milk) enter his or her bloodstream. The virus can enter the blood through linings in the mouth, anus or sex organs (the penis and vagina), or through broken skin.
More than half a million have died after developing AIDS.
At the end of 2006 there were over 39 million people living the HIV virus. There was about 37.2 million adults. 18 million women,and 2.3 million children under the age of 15. Also at the end of 2006, 2.9 million people are believed to have died of complications with AIDS. In sub-saharan african alone there were 12 million orphaned children due to the virus.
An estimated five million people in low and middle income countries do not have the AIDS drugs which could save their lives.

VIRGINIA HIV/AIDS STATISTICS
AIDS Cases in Major Cities - Dec. 2005
Richmond - 3,281 (10.2 cases per 100,000 people)
Virginia Beach/Norfolk/Newport News - 4,641 (11.2 cases per 100,000 people)
Washington DC - 30,125 (26.5 cases per 100,000 people)
Total Living with HIV (not AIDS) - 9,280

HIV/AIDS
WORLD HUNGER/THIRST
STATISTICS AND WORLD FACTS
Welcome to the AFAINT statistics and facts page.
The five issues to your right are the primary issues that the AFA advocate for, work to reduce and change! Here you will find different statistics and facts that affect the world we live in and hopefully the number will be reason enough for you to get involved and  make a difference. Join us and see the difference art and love can make.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
INNER-CITY VIOLENCE
Trafficking in persons is modern-day slavery, involving victims who are forced, defrauded or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation. Annually, about 600,000 to 800,000 people -- mostly women and children -- are trafficked across national borders which does not count millions trafficked within their own countries. People are trapped into trafficking by physical force, false promises,and by endangering relatives.Human trafficking is a threat on many different levels: it creates a global health risk,separates people from their human rights, and it influences the growth of organized crime. It is estimated to be a $5 to $9 billion-a-year industry


WHAT THE U.S. IS DOING....
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency estimates that 50,000 people are trafficked into or transited through the U.S.A. annually as sex slaves, domestics, garment, and agricultural slaves.The United States Government (USG) in 2006 continued to advance the goal of eradicating human trafficking in the United States. This coordinated effort includes several federal agencies and approximately $28.5 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 for domestic programs to boost anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts, identify and protect victims of trafficking, and raise awareness of trafficking as a means of preventing new incidents. – Adapted from U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2007  
  • Congress passed legislation so Americans who sexually prey on children abroad can be prosecuted and sentenced to as many as 30 years in prison.
  • The Department of Justice has focused on increasing the number of trafficking victims rescued and the number of prosecutions and convictions of traffickers.
  • The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is certifying trafficking victims so they may qualify for the same assistance available to refugees. HHS is also running a major public awareness campaign to alert victims in the U.S. that help is available through the hotline number 888.3737.888.
  • The Department of Defense has implemented a zero-tolerance stand against any actions by Defense personnel that contribute to human trafficking and is instituting a service-wide mandatory training program.
  • The Departments of Labor and Homeland Security, USAID, and other government agencies are executing action plans to combat human trafficking.

Exploitation includes forcing people into prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. For children, exploitation may also include forced prostitution, illicit international adoption, trafficking for early marriage, or recruitment as child soldiers, beggars, for sports (such as child camel jockeys or football players), or for religious cults.Human trafficking differs from people smuggling. In the latter, people voluntarily request smuggler's service for fees and there may be no deception involved in the (illegal) agreement. On arrival at their destination, the smuggled person is usually free. On the other hand, the trafficking victim is enslaved, or the terms of their debt bondage are fraudulent or highly exploitative. The trafficker takes away the basic human rights of the victim.
FOR MORE INFO GO TO ENDHUMANTRAFFICKING.ORG

The world produces enough food to provide every man, woman, and child with enough to eat.  Yet, 852 million people suffer from chronic hunger. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, which measures 'undernutrition most recent estimate (2006) of the FAO says that 854 million people worldwide are undernourished. This is 12.6 percent of the estimated world population of 6.6 billion. Most of the undernourished--820 million--are in developing countries.  The FAO estimate is based on statistical aggregates.  It looks at a country's income level and income distribution and uses this information to estimate how many people receive such a low level of income that they are malnourished.  It is   not an estimate based on seeing to what extent actual people are malnourished and projecting from there (as would be done by survey sampling). [It has been argued that the FAO approach is not sufficient to give accurate estimates of malnutrition (Poverty and Undernutrition  p. 298 by Peter Svedberg).]



World agriculture produces 17 percent more calories per person today than it did 30 years ago, despite a 70 percent population increase. This is enough to provide everyone in the world with at least 2,720 kilocalorie's (kcal) per person per day (FAO 2002, p.9).  The principal problem is that many people in the world do not have sufficient land to grow, or income to purchase, enough food.
SO AS A RESULT
Children are the most visible victims of under nutrition.  Children who are poorly nourished suffer up to 160 days of illness each year. Poor nutrition plays a role in at least half of the 10.9 million child deaths each year--five million deaths.  Undernutrition magnifies the effect of every disease, including measles and malaria. 
According to the most recent estimate that Hunger Notes could find, malnutrition, as measured by stunting, affects 32.5 percent of children in developing countries--one of three (de Onis 2000). Geographically, more than 70 percent of malnourished children live in Asia, 26 percent in Africa and 4 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean. In many cases, their plight began even before birth with a malnourished mother. Under-nutrition among pregnant women in developing countries leads to 1 out of 6 infants born with low birth weight. This is not only a risk factor for neonatal deaths, but also causes learning disabilities, mental, retardation, poor health, blindness and premature death.




FOR MORE INFO www.wfp.org
Crime in the United States accounts for more death, injuries and loss of property then all Natural Disasters combined.Blacks are disproportionately represented as both homicide victims and offenders.Approximately thirteen million people (approximately 5% of the U.S. population) are victims of crime every year. Approximately one and a half million are victims of violent crime.
The victimization rates for blacks were 6 times higher than those for whites. The offending rates for blacks were more than 7 times higher the rates for whites.

Males represent 77% of homicide victims and nearly 90% of offenders. The victimization rates for males were 3 times higher than the rates for females. The offending rates for males were 8 times higher than the rates for females.
Approximately one-third of murder victims and almost half the offenders are under the age of 25. For both victims and offenders, the rate per 100,000 peaks in the 18-24 year-old age group. Handgun homicides accounted for nearly all of the overall increase in the homicide rate, from 1985 to 1993, while homicide rates involving other weapons declined during that time frame. The rising trend in homicide rates during the 1980s and early 1990s was most pronounced among youths and Hispanic and African American males in the United States, with the injury and death rates tripling for black males aged 13 through 17 and doubling for black males aged 18 through 24.The rise in crack cocaine use in cities across the United States is often cited as a factor for increased gun violence among youths during this time period.

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