HIV/AIDS in Namibia is a critical public health issue. HIV has been the leading cause of death in Namibia since 1996, but its prevalence has dropped by over 70 percent in the years from 2006 to 2015.[1] While the disease has declined in prevalence, Namibia still has some of the highest rates of HIV of any country in the world. In 2016, 13.8 percent of the adult population between the ages of 15 and 49 are infected with HIV.[2] Namibia had been able to recover slightly from the peak of the AIDS epidemic in 2002. At the heart of the epidemic, AIDS caused the country's live expectancy to decline from 61 years in 1991 to 49 years in 2001. Since then, the life expectancy has rebounded with men living an average of 60 years and women living an average of 69 years [1]
This increase in life expectancy is attributed to better sexual health education and an increased use of antiretroviral therapy in the infected population. Aid organisations and the Namibian government have worked together to increase the use of Anti-retroviral therapy (ART) by those infected. In 2016 an estimated 64% of HIV positive people in Namibia are on ART, a number that has been rising by more than 3% a year since 2010.
However, the HIV epidemic still continues to affect the country in a large way. Close to 17 per cent of Namibia's children under the age of 18 are orphaned by at least one parent – mostly due to HIV.[3]