SA has grappled with widely divergent estimates of the size of the HIV/AIDS
epidemic, providing ammunition for politicians across the spectrum, and
complicating matters for policy makers and organisations trying to plan a
response to the disease.
This year alone, Statistics SA and the health department gave estimates that
varied by more than 20% * the statistics agency said 4,5-million South Africans
had HIV, while the health department put the figure at more than 6,3-million.
Even the HSRC has not been immune to this kind of controversy, with critics
maintaining that its previous household survey, published in 2002, had
underestimated the scale of the epidemic.
Yesterday the HSRC published the results of its 2005 household survey, the
biggest of its kind to date. The researchers tested blood samples of 15851
people across all population groups and all ages (except babies under the age of
two) for HIV, and conducted supplementary interviews.
Their research, commissioned by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and carried out
in partnership with the Medical Research Council and the Centre for AIDS and
Development Research, found ignorance about the disease was widespread.
"People have a false sense of security, especially the very young and
older people," said HSRC CEO Olive Shisana.
The results suggested there were major gaps in government's education and
prevention programmes, she said.
The survey found 29% of people aged over 50, and nearly a fifth of those aged
between 12 and 14 were unsure whether HIV caused AIDS. Only 55% of the people
approached by the HSRC agreed to HIV testing, but this had been taken into
account in calculating the results, said Shisana.
Surprisingly, the survey found just 0,6% of whites were infected with HIV,
down from the HRSC's 2002 estimate of 6,2%. HIV prevalence also appeared to have
fallen among the coloured population, from 6,6% in 2002 to 1,9% in 2005.
However, Shisana said that the figures should be treated with caution, as the
researchers believed the results for Western Cape might not be accurate.
The survey found 13,3% of Africans and 1,6% of Indians were infected with
HIV.
More females (13,8%) were infected with HIV than males (8,2%).
The gender differences were most stark among young adults, as 33,3% of women
and 12,1% of men aged 25-29 were infected with HIV. Women aged 15-24 were eight
times more likely to have been recently infected than their male peers.
People were at greater risk if their sexual partner's age differed from
theirs by more than five years. "Too many people are fishing in an infected
pond," said Shisana, urging South Africans to choose partners closer to
their own age.
On the business front, new research released yesterday by the Bureau for
Economic Research and the South African Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS
(Sabcoha) showed South African firms still have a long way to go in
minimising the effect of HIV/AIDS.
More than 55% of mining companies and almost half of transport firms said
HIV/AIDS was eroding profits. "Companies themselves believe the private
sector response is lacking," said Sabcoha CEO Brad Mears. Most small
companies, with fewer than 100 employees, had failed to respond to the epidemic.
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The HSRC report referred to in this story - the South African National
HIV Prevalence, HIV Incidence, Behaviour and Communication Survey, 2005 - can be
accessed at
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