HIV/AIDS figures "stabilising", new report

New HIV/AIDS figures released by the South African Department of Health show that the pandemic could be stabilising, with not much change in HIV infection rates between 2004 and 2005.

In its 'HIV and Syphilis Antenatal Sero-prevalence Survey' conducted in 2005, the department said 30.2 percent of pregnant women were HIV positive, compared to 29.5 percent the previous year, but this minor increase was "not unusual for a stabilising epidemic".

Women in their late 20s and early 30s were the worst affected, with almost 40 percent of those aged between 25 and 29 being HIV positive, but there were encouraging signs of a decline among women younger than 20 years.

"This might imply a sustained change in behaviour among young people, including engaging in safer sexual practices such as being in mutually faithful relationships," the report said. "These gains need to be taken a step further to result in reduced teenage pregnancies as well."

The annual survey of pregnant women receiving antenatal care in the public sector is an important indicator of HIV/AIDS in the general South African population.

But a recently released report by the Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) has warned that the country's response to the pandemic, remained inadequate.

SAIRR researcher Marco MacFarlane noted that "it is very disturbing that other countries in [the region] have managed to reduce their AIDS statistics, while South Africa continues to have the highest HIV infection rate".

Last year the department estimated that between 6.29 million and 6.57 million people had been infected with HIV by 2004, but has since revised this figure to 5.54 million people, attributing the variation in the figures to recent "significant development and improvements to mathematical models for HIV".

To access the HIV and Syphilis Antenatal Sero-prevalence Survey: www.doh.gov.za