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In what has become the epicenter of the AIDS epidemic, sub-Saharan Africa alone is home to more than 3 million HIV/AIDS-related deaths during 2003 – twice the number of the rest of the world combined.

Many students, political activists and celebrities have collaborated in recent years to bring education and treatment to this poverty-stricken part of the world. Several activities aimed to raise awareness about the epidemic are planned worldwide today, during World AIDS Day.

More than one in five pregnant women are infected with HIV/AIDS in many South African countries as the epidemic continues to tighten its hold on the region, according to a UNAIDS report released Nov. 25. UNAIDS is a United Nations organization that coordinates efforts to combat AIDS.

An estimated 26.6 million people in sub-Saharan Africa have HIV, the report stated. Southern Africa, which houses 2 percent of the world’s population, is home to 30 percent of people worldwide suffering from the epidemic.

“This is an epidemic that at the start was a white, middle-class gay man’s disease. Today, if you use a stereotype, the face of AIDS is a young woman from Africa,” said Dr. Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS, in a conference last week.

There is a direct correlation between poverty and disease, said Salih Booker, executive director of the advocacy group Africa Action.

Booker added that it is also ironic the spread of the AIDS is occurring at a time when treatment is available but is inaccessible to many poverty-stricken countries.

Africa Action, along with many other organizations, is lobbying Western nations to grant more funding to the region.

In his State of the Union address in January, President George Bush pledged to give $15 billion to Africa in the course of five years. The Bush administration has yet to make good on its promise.

Last month, Congress appropriated $2.4 billion towards AIDS prevention and education efforts globally in 2004. No money was directly earmarked for Africa, and none was allocated this year.

“To put off funding for a year ... (Bush) is not treating (AIDS in Africa) as an emergency,” Booker said.

Booker said another problem is big drug companies concerned with protecting their profits and their patents on treatments rather than providing poorer nations with the medicine they need.

Some African countries have made progress in treating the disease over the years. One example is Uganda, which has experienced reduced HIV infections for 12 consecutive years.

With reports from Daily Bruin wire services.