STI management effort bears fruit - govt

South Africa's health ministry says efforts to manage sexually transmitted infections (STIs) - which usually increase the risk of HIV infection - are showing results.

Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said national figures indicated that more couples were adopting the practice of "partner notification", where partners notified each other when they became infected and sought treatment together.

The notification rate had doubled from 39 percent in 2000 to 83 percent in 2004, and the number of patients whose partners were subsequently treated had increased from 15 percent in 2000 to 24 percent in 2004.

"This indicates that we are moving in the right direction ... We are going to push harder and ensure that [more people] ultimately visit our health facilities for treatment," Tshabalala-Msimang said in a statement.