what is a hiv and how should we prevent it? what percentage of people in the world has it and why, is it bad?

The HIV the other word for AIDS, you do not want it. Abstinence prevents it. About 20% I would guess.

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Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It basically kills off your immune system. It is spread through blood, semen, breast milk, and some vaginal secretions during sex. A lot of people have it especially in poor African countries. Prevention through absinence, condoms

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you dont know what hiv/aids is? it kills you wear a condom everytime.1,039,000 to 1,185,000 persons in the United States were living with HIV/AIDS [1]. Source(s):http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/At-A-Glance.htm

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Worldwide:Over 22 million people have died from AIDS. Over 42 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, and 74 percent of these infected people live in sub-Saharan Africa. Over 19 million women are living with HIV/AIDS. By the year 2010, five countries (Ethiopia, Nigeria, China, India, and Russia) with 40 percent of the world’s population will add 50 to 75 million infected people to the worldwide pool of HIV disease. There are 14,000 new infections every day (95 percent in developing countries). HIV/AIDS is a “disease of young people” with half of the 5 million new infections each year occurring among people ages 15 to 24. The UN estimates that, currently, there are 14 million AIDS orphans and that by 2010 there will be 25 million. United States:An estimated one million people are currently living with HIV in the United States, with approximately 40,000 new infections occurring each year. 70 percent of these new infections occur in men and 30 percent occur in women. By race, 54 percent of the new infections in the United States occur among African Americans, and 64 percent of the new infections in women occur in African American women. 75 percent of the new infections in women are heterosexually transmitted. Half of all new infections in the United States occur in people 25 years of age or younger.

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“Human immunodeficiency virus (commonly known as HIV, and formerly known as HTLV-III and lymphadenopathy-associated virus) is a retrovirus that primarily infects vital components of the human immune system such as CD4+ T cells, macrophages and dendritic cells. It also directly and indirectly destroys CD4+ T cells. As CD4+ T cells are required for the proper functioning of the immune system, when enough CD4+ T cells have been destroyed by HIV, the immune system functions poorly, leading to the syndrome known as AIDS. HIV also directly attacks organs, such as the kidneys, the heart and the brain leading to acute renal failure, cardiomyopathy, dementia and encephalopathy. Many of the problems faced by people infected with HIV result from failure of the immune system to protect from opportunistic infections and cancers.HIV is transmitted through direct contact of a mucous membrane with a bodily fluid containing HIV, such as blood, semen, vaginal fluid, preseminal fluid or breast milk. This transmission can come in the form of: penetrative (anal or vaginal) sex; oral sex; blood transfusion; contaminated needles; exchange between mother and infant during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding; or other exposure to one of the above bodily fluids.HIV is hypothesized to have originated in southern Cameroon after jumping from wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) to humans during the twentieth century[1][2]. Infection in humans is now pandemic. As of January 2006, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since it was first recognized on December 1, 1981, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in recorded history. In 2005 alone, AIDS claimed an estimated 2.4 – 3.3 million lives, of which more than 570,000 were children.[3] A third of these deaths are occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, retarding economic growth by destroying human capital. Current estimates say that about 28 million people have died and that HIV is set to infect 90 million people in Africa, resulting in a minimum estimate of 18 million orphans in Africa.[4] Antiretroviral treatment reduces both the mortality and the morbidity of HIV infection, but routine access to antiretroviral medication is not available in all countries.[5] HIV/AIDS stigma is more severe than that associated with other life-threatening conditions and extends beyond the disease itself to providers and even volunteers involved with the care of people living with HIV.” Because people have unprotected sex. its a bad epidemic and It’s sad that people wont take precautions and protect themselves when they decide to have sex.

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HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. It is 100% preventable and actually is one of the few disease that is. Not having unprotected sex and/or sharing needles would wipe it out. It’s that simple. Percentage wise it is hard to tell as many people who are infected have no idea they are.