Zuko Komisa

HIV infections have reportedly decreased in South Africa.
A new survey has show that the percentage of South Africans living with HIV declined from 7.9 million in 2017 to 7.8 million in 2022, while the country’s HIV prevalence fell from 14% in 2017 to 12.7% in 2022 across all age groups.
The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) presented the results of the sixth South African HIV Prevalence, Incidence, and Behavior Survey (SABSSM VI) on Wednesday at the 2024 International AIDS Conference.
Despite a decline in HIV prevalence across all age categories, data indicates that women are still disproportionately impacted by the virus, with a prevalence of 16.4% across all age groups, compared to 8.8% for men.
Point of View with Phemelo Motene spoke to Anele Yawa – Treatment Action Campaign, a community-led organization aimed at monitoring to improve the quality of HIV & TB service delivery for people living with HIV and key populations in South Africa.
Listen to the full conversation here:
According to the survey by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), for females aged 35 to 39, the prevalence peaks at 34.2%, whereas for males aged 45 to 49, the prevalence peaks at 27.1%.
The poll also revealed that in 2022, the incidence of HIV in people two years of age and older was 0.44%, translating to 232 400 new cases of HIV infection in South Africa. HIV incidence was 0.39% among teenagers and young adults aged 15 to 24 and 0.72% among adults aged 15 to 49. Among adults aged 15 and older, it translated to 227 400.
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