Uganda
Uganda has a population estimated at 31,367,972; its territory covers an area slightly smaller than the state of Oregon. The following estimated statistics pertaining to Uganda were obtained from the www.unaids.org website in 2008:

• Number of people living with HIV:  940,000 [870,000 – 1,000,000]
  
• Adults aged 15 and up living with HIV:  810,000 [740,000 – 910,000]
  
• Women aged 15 and up living with HIV:  480,000 [440,000 – 540,000]
  
• Children aged 0 to 14 living with HIV:  130,000 [120,000 – 150,000]
  
• Deaths due to AIDS:  77,000 [68,000 – 89,000]
   
• Orphans due to AIDS aged 0 to 17:  1,200,000 [1,100,000 – 1,400,000]
  
  +++Please note that these numbers do not reflect individuals who have never tested for HIV/AIDS or those that died without accessing medical care.

AIDS devastation in Africa
According to Avert- an international HIV and AIDS charity based in the UK, “an estimated 22 million adults and children were living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa at the end of 2007. During that year, an estimated 1.9 million Africans died from AIDS.  The epidemic has left behind some 11.6 million orphaned African children”.

With two-thirds of all people living with HIV found in sub-Saharan Africa, this has caused immense human suffering across the continent. The disease has had various impacts in the region:

1. Children have become the heads of households and thus robbed of their childhood; in these cases, severe malnutrition is common.
    
2. The health sector (i.e. hospitals and health care workers) has been overwhelmed by the huge numbers of cases that they have to handle, compounded by shortages of medical personnel.
    
3. Households have witnessed shortages in basic necessities, reductions in food production, and increasing health care and funeral expenses due to the illness or death of the breadwinners.
    
4. Fewer children are able to receive basic education due to the loss of their parents; most schools in Africa do not offer free education, which leads to huge drop outs after the death of the primary providers. The number of teachers are dwindling due to infection or death, leaving a vacuum in the education sector.
    
5. Economic and social progress has regressed due to the death or infection of the most productive members of society – those aged 15-49 years. Life expectancy is very low in most countries:  in the case of Uganda, 53.4 years for women and 52.3 years for men. This has created a human resources crisis in all professional sectors.