HIV Prevalence

HIV prevalence in South Africa

The statistics that are given here have been taken from two prevalence studies. The first section estimates that how many people are living with HIV in South Africa. The second one focuses on the AIDS deaths. When you view these two sections together, they will give you an idea about the scale of HIV epidemic of South Africa.

The first section has been taken from the reports that are published by Department of Health National HIV and Syphilis National HIV and Syphilis Sero-prevalence Survey in South Africa 2007. The second section has been taken from the reports of the South African National HIV Prevalence, HIV Incidence, Behavior and Communication Survey, 2008. A Sample of people was selected to represent the general population. The survey depicts the clear picture of the HIV epidemic in South Africa. The given report evaluates HIV prevalence in different groups of people who are derived from this the population sample.

The South African Department of Health Study evaluates that there were twenty-eight percent of pregnant women living with HIV in 2007. The estimation is based on the sample of 33, 488 women who attended 1,415 antenatal clinics across all nine provinces. KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Free State were recorded as the highest rate of HIV. The lowest prevalence rate was recorded in The Northern Cape and Western Cape.

South Africa had one of the countries where HIV epidemic had expanded in large extent till the year 1998. However, now it seems to be stabilized and even may be reducing slightly. The rate among teenage girls fell from 16.1% in 2004 to 12.9% in 2007. The Health Department states the reason behind the declining rate among teenage is that the young women following safer sex practices.