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An estimated 36.5 million out of about 40 million people living with the human immunodeficiency virus-acute immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in the world are workers and will be one of the biggest causes of mortality in the global work force by 2015, the International Labor Organization (ILO) has warned. In its first global analysis of HIV/AIDS, the UN agency said as many as 28 million workers could have been lost to the disease since the epidemic started in the 1980s. "These effects of HIV/AIDS on the labor force and on all persons of working age are measurable in their overall impact on economic growth and development. By causing the illness and death of workers, the epidemic reduces the stock of skills and experience of the labor force. This loss in human capital is a direct threat to the Millennium Development Goals of reducing poverty and promoting sustainable development," said Franklyn Lisk, ILO director on AIDS program. [more]

Young adults (under 25) make up an estimated 50 percent of new infections. Black people account for more than half of these new infections. [more]