HIV/AIDS More Prevalent in Urban Slums Than in Rural Areas in Developing Countries, U.N. Report Says

HIV/AIDS is more prevalent in "slu[m]" urban areas than in rural areas in developing countries, according to a UN-HABITAT report released on Friday, Agence France-Presse reports (Agence France-Presse, 6/15). The report, titled "State of the World's Cities Report 2006/7," finds that HIV prevalence is higher in urban areas than in rural areas in most sub-Saharan African countries and almost twice as high in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia (UN-HABITAT release, 6/19). Of the sub-Saharan African countries surveyed, the report also finds higher HIV prevalence in urban areas than in rural areas in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Ghana, Mali and Niger (Lovell, Reuters, 6/15). Women living in urban areas also are more likely to contract HIV than their rural counterparts, according to the report. The report, which examines data from more than 200 cities worldwide, finds that more than one billion people will be living in slums by 2007 (Adam, Guardian, 6/16). Sub-Saharan Africa in 2005 had 199 million people living in slums, or about 20% of the world's total; Asia had 581 million "slum dwellers," or 60% of the total; and Latin America had 134 million, about 14% of the total, Inter Press Service reports. About half the world's population lives in cities, and UN-HABITAT says it could be two-thirds by 2020 (Ajayi, Inter Press Service, 6/16).