Aids

AIDS stands for: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

AIDS is a medical condition. A person is diagnosed with AIDS when their immune system is too weak to fight off infections.

Since the first cases of AIDS were identified in 1981, more than 25 million people have died from AIDS. An estimated 1.8 million people died as a result of AIDS in 2009 alone.

AIDS is caused by HIV.

HIV is a virus that gradually attacks immune system cells. As HIV progressively damages these cells, the body becomes more vulnerable to infections, which it will have difficulty in fighting off. It is at the point of very advanced HIV infection that a person is said to have AIDS. It can be years before HIV has damaged the immune system enough for AIDS to develop.