The Caribbean, constituting some 36 million people in 16 sovereign states and 18 territories,
dependencies and semi-autonomous island states, has the highest HIV prevalence in any region
outside Africa. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the Pan
American Health Organization (PAHO) estimate that 2 percent of adults in the region are
seropositive, 85 percent of whom live in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The epidemic is
concentrated in young adults and is transmitted mainly through sexual contact. However,
perinatal transmission is rising in some areas, particularly in Haiti.