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South Africa virologist, Professor Lynne Webber on Wednesday said while she applauds the HIV/AIDS infections report released last week by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), the figures fell short of the real infection rates.
According to the HSRC figures, between 4.5 million and 5 million South Africans are HIV-positive.
"I believe that is an underestimation and that figures are actually higher," Webber told the UN news agency Plusnews.
The HSRC estimates that 12.9 percent of black people, 6.2 percent of whites, 6.1 percent of coloureds [mixed race] and 1.6 percent of Indians were HIV-positive.
But Webber says that she believes that the figures for whites, coloureds [mixed race] and Indians were much higher.
"A report on the department of health's website shows that not many Indian people participated in the study carried out by the HSRC," Webber added.
According to the HSRC study which was commissioned by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the overall infection rate of the South African population is 11.4 percent.
"My gut feeling is that there is probably a 15 percent infection rate, or it will become that soon," Webber said.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions