Over 6 Million People Infected With HIV in South Africa: Survey

Over 6 million people infected with HIV in South Africa: survey

JOHANNESBURG, July 11 (Xinhua) — The South African Health Department announced on Monday that between 6.29 million and 6.57 million people in the country had been infected with HIV by last year.

The figure, attributed to the department’s HIV and Syphilis Antenatal Sero-prevalence Survey, is far higher than the estimate of 4.5 million given by the official state statistics agency, Statistics SA.

Since South Africa has a total population of 46.9 million, it means that AIDS prevalence is as high as 14 percent in the country.

“Last year’s figure prompted the department to speculate that the pandemic might be slowing, but the latest data suggest this is not happening,” the statement from the department said.

The Health Department has published shock new figures on South Africa’s HIV/AIDS toll on its website, in a move likely to stir political controversy and cast unflattering light on the accuracy of official statistics, local daily Business Day said.

In addition, the publication of the report on the department’s official website on Friday is a startling repeat of the past two years’ events, coming just days after the Democratic Alliance (DA) tried to obtain the report using the Promotion of Access to Information Act.

DA health spokeswoman Dianne Kohler-Barnard said the release of the report following the use of the act was “a triumph.”"If this pandemic is to be dealt with effectively, it must be brought out into the open.”

However, department spokesman Sibane Mngadi denied the report had been released as a result of the DA’s use of the act.

“We wanted printed copies to be available before we published it electronically,” he said, adding the department would release a detailed statement today..

HIV/AIDS is SA’s most pressing health challenge and the annual survey of pregnant women attending government ante-natal clinics is government’s most important indicator of the progression of the pandemic.

It serves as a critical gauge of the effectiveness of government’s efforts to prevent new infections, and is an essential tool for policy makers.

“Is it any wonder the public is confused when the same government offers estimates that differ by between 2-million and 2. 5- million?” said Prof. Rob Dorrington, head of the Center for Actuarial Research at the University of Cape Town and a leading expert on AIDS statistics. He said the department’s latest figures were “undoubtedly too high.”

The department’s head of health monitoring and evaluation Lindy Makubalo ascribed the variation in estimates to differences in methodology. The department follows methodology developed by the United Nations, while Statistics SA “was still trying to refine ( its) methodology.”

The report shows 29.4 percent of pregnant women attending government clinics last year were infected with HIV, up from 27.9 percent in 2003 and 26.5 percent in 2002.

Last year’s figures prompted the department to speculate that the pandemic might be slowing, but the latest data suggest this is not happening. In fact, the prevalence rates of HIV measured among pregnant women rose in all age groups from 2003 to 2004.

The report also shows women in their early 20s and 30s are the most vulnerable, with 38.5 percent of pregnant women aged 25-29 infected with the HI virus.

The survey found wide provincial variations, with HIV prevalence among pregnant women increasing in all the provinces except Free State, North West and Mpumalanga. KwaZulu-Natal had the highest figures (40 percent) and Western Cape the lowest (15.4 percent).

An encouraging aspect of the survey was the continued decline in syphilis prevalence, which has fallen from 11 percent in 1998 to 1.6 percent last year.

However, the national average hides the relatively high incidence in Northern Cape (7 percent).