Daily Data InsightsIn 2023, PEPFAR provided life-saving therapy against HIV to 20.5 million people

November 27, 2024

In 2023, PEPFAR provided life-saving therapy against HIV to 20.5 million people

Line chart titled '20.5 million people receive antiretroviral therapy through PEPFAR' showing the annual number of people receiving antiretroviral therapy through PEPFAR, the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, from 2004 to 2023. The chart starts near zero in 2004, rising steadily each year, and reaching 20.5 million people in 2023. The therapy helps keep people with HIV healthy and prevents its spread to others. Data source: President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (2024), published by Our World in Data.

The US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, was established in 2003 to fight the global HIV epidemic.

Since its launch, PEPFAR has provided millions of people with antiretroviral therapy (ART) worldwide, especially in Africa.

The chart shows the number of people who received therapy through PEPFAR in a given year. In 2023, it was 20.5 million people.

ART is highly effective: it helps keep people with HIV healthy and reduces the risk of spreading the virus to others, saving more than one million lives each year.

But, after months of legislative delay, PEPFAR was recently renewed for only one year, raising concerns about the program's future after March 2025.

Explore data on other aid success stories →

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Cancer death rates rise sharply with age. So, as the population grows and ages, we would expect the rate of cancer deaths to rise.
If we look at how death rates have changed for people of the same ages, the picture looks different.
National data from the United States, which comes from the WHO Mortality Database, is shown in the chart.
You can see that the “crude death rate”, which doesn’t adjust for aging, shows a rise and modest decline in cancer death rates since 1950.
But the “age-standardized death rate” shows a significant decline since its peak in 1990; it has fallen by one-third. This means that, within the same age groups, people in 2021 had a cancer death rate one-third lower than those in 1990. In other words, at the same ages, people are one-third less likely to die from cancer.
This decline results from several factors: better screening and earlier diagnosis, medical advances in cancer treatments, and public health efforts to reduce risk factors, like smoking and exposure to carcinogens.

Yesterday

Americans are now one-third less likely to die from cancer at the same ages as Americans in 1990

How has the risk of dying from cancer changed in the United States?

To understand this, we can look at national cancer death rates in the United States.

The gray line shows the crude rate, which is the rate of deaths from cancer per 100,000 people. It has risen between 1950 and 1990 and has fallen slightly since then.

However, cancer death rates rise sharply with age, and the age of the US population has increased since 1950, so we would expect cancer death rates to rise for that reason alone.

What if we adjust for the increased age of the US population?

The red line, the age-standardized rate, shows this. It shows the cancer death rate if the age structure of the US population was held constant throughout.

This shows a slight rise until 1990 and then a significant decline; rates have fallen by one-third.

This means Americans are now one-third less likely to die from cancer at the same ages as Americans in 1990.

This comes from several factors: better screening and earlier diagnosis, medical advances in cancer treatments, and public health efforts to reduce risk factors like smoking and exposure to carcinogens.

Explore this trend in other countries →

Chart showing the average number of cows, pigs, and chickens slaughtered for meat worldwide per second in 2022. It's 10 cows, 47 pigs, and 2400 chickens per second.

December 06

Every second, 10 cows, 47 pigs, and 2,400 chickens are slaughtered for meat

Around the world, 10 cows, 47 pigs, and 2,400 chickens get killed for meat every second.

Recent estimates suggest that 99% of livestock in the United States is factory-farmed. Globally, the majority of animals are raised on factory farms.

For many of these animals, life is short and painful.

Newborn calves are typically taken from their mothers shortly after birth, causing distress for both. Castrating and cutting off piglets' tails without anesthesia is common practice. Chickens grow so quickly that after six weeks, many struggle to stand for long and spend most of their time lying down. These animals require high doses of antibiotics to survive in poor living conditions.

There are ways to make life less harsh for farm animals. Reducing meat consumption can lessen the demand for factory farming and its associated harms. Moreover, slowing chicken growth rates or giving hens better living spaces can help reduce their suffering.

These figures are based on estimates from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Explore many more charts in our Animal Welfare Explorer →

Cancer is one of the most common causes of death worldwide. In several countries, it is the most common cause of death.
But which cancers cause the most deaths?
This map shows the data for men. It presents the most common type of cancer death, based on the cause listed on death certificates, compiled by the WHO Mortality Database. Many countries are not shown as they lack sufficient death registration.
Lung cancer is the most common in many countries. In several others, especially in South America, prostate cancer leads.
In Iran, stomach cancer, and in Mongolia and Egypt, liver cancer, are the most common.
Many of these cancers are preventable. Stomach cancer, for example, has declined almost ten-fold in the last seventy years in the United States thanks to improvements in food safety, hygiene, and antibiotics. Meanwhile, lung cancer death rates have halved since their peak with the fall of smoking.

December 05

Which type of cancer kills the most men in each country?

Cancer is one of the most common causes of death worldwide. In several countries, it is the most common cause of death.

But which cancer types cause the most deaths?

The map presents the most common type of cancer death among men. This is based on the cause listed on death certificates, compiled by the WHO Mortality Database. Unfortunately, many countries are not shown as they lack sufficient death registration.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of male cancer deaths in many countries, primarily driven by smoking.

In parts of Latin America, prostate cancer leads. Although it has high survival rates in richer countries, it is common and can reach late stages before diagnosis, which limits treatment options.

Stomach cancer — shown in purple on the map — is the leading cause in several Central Asian countries. It is primarily caused by H. pylori infections. In wealthier countries, infections have declined thanks to better food safety, hygiene, and antibiotics.

Liver cancer, leading in Mongolia, Thailand, and Egypt, is often the result of inflammation caused by long-term alcohol consumption or hepatitis virus infection.

Learn more about the rates of different cancers and how they have changed over time →

December 04

Nearly half of teenagers globally cannot read with comprehension

The chart shows the share of children at the end of lower-secondary school age — aged 12 to 15 — who meet the minimum proficiency set by UNESCO in reading comprehension. This means they can connect the main ideas across various texts, understand the author’s intentions, and draw reasoned conclusions.

Only around half of children of this age can read this well. In countries like Ireland and South Korea, more than 8 in 10 children reach this level. But in poorer countries like Senegal, Zambia, and Cambodia, fewer than 1 in 20 do.

These numbers include all children of middle school age, not just those who attend school.

Explore the most recent education data from UNESCO, now available in our updated charts →

A line chart showing global per capita CO2 emissions from 1850 to 2023. The red line represents emissions from fossil fuels, peaking in 2012 at about 4.9 tons per person. The green line shows combined emissions from fossil fuels and land use, peaking slightly earlier. Both lines show a sharp rise starting in the 20th century and recent declines. The source is the Global Carbon Budget (2024).

December 03

Per capita CO2 emissions have peaked globally, but total emissions are still increasing

To tackle climate change, the world needs to rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. But before we reduce emissions, we need to stop them rising; the world needs to pass the peak.

Globally, total CO2 emissions are still slowly increasing. The Global Carbon Project just released its preliminary estimates for 2024, which suggest another 0.8% increase.

However, while total emissions have not yet peaked, emissions per person have. Globally, per capita CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels peaked in 2012. When land use emissions — which are more uncertain and noisier — are included, they peaked in the 1970s and have fluctuated since then. You can see both trends in the chart.

This suggests that, globally, lifestyles are slowly decarbonizing. However, to come closer to our global climate targets, economies must decarbonize much faster to push total emissions into decline.

Explore the latest CO2 emissions data in our updated charts →

The image shows a bar chart titled "Number of lives saved by childhood vaccinations from 1974 to 2024," sourced from Shattock et al. (2024). A total of 93.71 million lives have been saved by measles vaccines since 1974. Other diseases include tetanus (27.95 million) and whooping cough (13.17 million). The data highlights the large impact of vaccination programs globally.

December 02

Measles vaccines have saved over 90 million lives in the last 50 years

Measles vaccination has saved 94 million lives globally since 1974. Of those, 92 million were children.

The chart shows the number of lives saved by different childhood vaccines in the last 50 years. These estimates come from Andrew Shattock and colleagues and are based on global data on diseases, causes of death, vaccination rates, and vaccine efficacy.

Measles vaccines rank the highest in the total number of lives saved.

Measles is especially contagious and deadly. The virus depletes immune cells, making it harder to fight off measles and making other infections much more life-threatening. It can also erase immune memory to infections and vaccines that children have already encountered.

Before vaccines, almost all children caught measles, and it was a common cause of disability and death. With high measles vaccination rates, millions of lives are saved globally each year.

Read more in our article about the impact of global vaccination →

November 29

The UN projects that Africa’s population will double by 2070

Today, Africa is home to 1.5 billion people. By 2070, the UN expects this number to more than double. Its estimates range from 2.7 billion to 3.7 billion, with the most likely scenario placing the African population around 3.2 billion.

This region is where most of the growth in the world population will occur in the next 50 years.

Europe’s population is already shrinking, with Asia and Latin America expected to follow from the 2050s onwards. The UN expects North America’s population to grow, although much slower than Africa's.