The data regarding HIV/AIDS reflect the latest estimates available at the end of 2007. Data for the world total are from the 2007 edition of the UNAIDS AIDS Epidemic Update, an annual pub- lication that updates HIV/AIDS estimates on the global and regional levels, but does not include country-level estimates. The estimates from the 2007 Update indicate that, globally, 33.2 million people were living with HIV in 2007. This figure is 14 per cent lower than the previous estimate from the 2006 UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic (38.6 million).
The new estimate does not imply that the number of people living with HIV worldwide is declining; rather, the number of infected persons continues to increase but from a lower level than previously estimated. The reduction in the global estimate results largely from refinements in estimation methodology andfrom new data that have become available for a number of countries. Country level estimates that are consistent with the 2007 global estimate have not been published. Therefore, the HIV/AIDS data given in this wall chart for countries and regions are taken or calculated from the 2006 Report on Global AIDS Epidemic and refer to the year 2005.