Overall, approximately 2.1 million people in North America and Western and Central Europe were living with HIV in 2007, including the 78,000 who acquired HIV in the past year.

There has been an increase in the number of new HIV diagnoses in Western Europe since 2002 and a relatively stable number of new HIV infections each year in North America.

Widespread access to effective antiretroviral treatment has helped the number of AIDS-related deaths in this region to remain comparatively low.

AIDS related illnesses are the one of the leading causes of death among African Americans.