Share & more
Mounting levels of HIV in South Africa prove that the government is not properly addressing the pandemic, the local Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) has said.
The World Health Organisation estimated that of all sub-Saharan countries, South Africa was the only one where prevalence rates were still increasing.
SAIRR researcher Marco MacFarlane noted that 5.4 million South Africans were HIV-positive, and to date at least two million of the estimated 45 million population had died as a result.
"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," MacFarlane told the South African Press Association.
However, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said in the online newsletter, ANC Today, that the UN's emphasis on poverty reduction and HIV prevention had been her government's model for its AIDS response all along.
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