Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

What We Know...
HIV/AIDS infection rates in the Caribean are among the highest in the world, second only to that of sub-Sahara Africa. Know The facts, and join us in the fight against HIV/AIDS!

Caribbean*
• Official estimates show that, as of December 1999, there were 360,000 adults and children living with HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean. By the end of 2000, that number had grown to an estimated 390,000. Due to reporting challenges, however, the real number could be closer to 500,000.1
• According to latest data, in the English-speaking Caribbean, HIV/AIDS is now the leading cause of death among men between the ages of 15 and 44.2
• Among adult women in the English-speaking Caribbean, HIV/AIDS rates are climbing. The latest data show 35 percent of HIV-positive adults were women.3

U.S. Virgin Islands
• By June 2000, approximately one out of every 300 persons was estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS. This is a minimum estimate because there may be persons with HIV who were not aware of their HIV infection status.
• By June 2000, the primary mode of HIV transmission in the U.S. Virgin Islands, as in the rest of the Caribbean, was through heterosexual contact.4

Puerto Rico
• As of December 2000, Puerto Rico ranked among the top ten U.S. states or territories with the highest cumulative AIDS cases among residents.5
• In Puerto Rico, injection drug use was reported as the leading mode of transmission through June 2000. The number of persons who reported HIV infection through injection drug use was more than twice that of the second leading mode of HIV transmission — heterosexual contact.4

Let’s Take Action!
To address the HIV/AIDS health crisis in the Caribbean, we must confront major challenges including:
• the lack of standardized HIV testing in the region;
• underreporting of HIV/AIDS;
• limited or no access to voluntary and/or confidential HIV counseling and testing; and
• providing services in a socially and economically diverse community.

1 UNAIDS, HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean Fact Sheet, February 2001.
2 UNAIDS, AIDS Epidemic Update, December 2000.
3 The World Bank, HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean: Issues and Options, June 2000.
4 Based upon TLCA consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, March 2001.
5 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, 2000; Vol. 12 (No. 2).
* The Caribbean includes islands in the Caribbean Sea and the mainland countries of Belize, Guyana, and Suriname.

The Leadership Campaign on AIDS is a program of the Office of HIV/AIDS Policy - (202) 690-5560 – www.hhs.gov