New AIDS study meets with scepticism

A new study suggesting the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa had peaked was met with scepticism by one of the country's leading AIDS academics. Based on data from the recent HIV/AIDS household survey by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), the findings indicate that the total number of HIV-positive people in South Africa could remain constant for the foreseeable future. However, a University of Natal epidemiologist, Prof Quarraisha Abdool Karim, argued that the HSRC study had not been through a peer-review process. The local Business Day newspaper quoted Karim as saying: "There are a number of flaws in the study, and in the interpretation and data analysis that have not been addressed, the use of these data to calibrate a new model questions the validity of the model." Researchers participating in the new study have refused other academics access to their data or the questionnaires.