HIV/AIDS is a global problem that threatens both individual and national well-being. Most infectious diseases affect the young and the old. HIV/AIDS, by contrast, takes its largest toll on working-age populations. As a result, the economic consequences of AIDS are particularly debilitating.

The epidemic is most intense in Africa. A UN and WHO report (UNAIDS 2002) describes the scale of the problem in Africa:

'By far the worst-affected region, sub-Saharan Africa is now home to 29.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS. Approximately 3.5 million new infections occurred there in 2002, while the epidemic claimed the lives of an estimated 2.4 million Africans in the past year. Ten million young people (aged 15-24) and almost 3 million children under 15 are living with HIV.

'Rampant epidemics are under way in southern Africa where, in four countries, national adult HIV prevalence has risen higher than thought possible, exceeding 30%: Botswana (38.8%), Lesotho (31%), Swaziland (33.4%) and Zimbabwe (33.7%). The food crises faced in the latter three countries are linked to the toll (on the lives of young, productive adults, particularly) of their longstanding HIV/AIDS epidemic.'

The issues surrounding orphans, youth and infants complicate the problems arising from adult sickness and death from HIV/AIDS.

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and World Health Organization (WHO). 2002, "AIDS Epidemic Update". December. Retrieved June 23, 2003.