Good news: HIV epidemic levels off in South Africa, reports Human Sciences Research Council
Last updated 6/11/2009 3:17:12 PM
HIV infections epidemic levels off in South Africa
South Africa's HIV epidemic has levelled off at a prevalence of 10.9% for people aged two years and older and HIV prevalence has also declined among children aged 2-14, from 5.6% in 2002 to 2.5% in 2008.
A decline in new infections has also been noted among teenagers aged 15-19 , with 5.2 million people estimated to be living with HIV in 2008.
These findings emerge from the third national HIV prevalence, incidence and communication survey which was conducted in 2008 and which followed surveys in 2002 and 2005.
Dr Olive Shisana, CEO of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and one of the two principal investigators of the study said: "The good news is that the change in HIV prevalence in children is most likely attributable to the successful implementation of several HIV-prevention interventions."
Dr Shisana said these interventions related to addressing HIV in early childhood, particularly programmes to prevent mother-to-child transmission in the Western Cape, where the largest decline of 6 percentage points occurred.
Professor Thomas Rehle, the other principal investigator of the study, emphasised: "We may witness for the first time a decrease in HIV incidence among teenagers."
HIV prevalence among adults aged 15-49 has declined between 2002 and 2008 in the Western Cape, Gauteng, Northern Cape and the Free State, with the largest decline of 7.9 percentage points in the Western Cape.
The percentage of people in the age group 15-49 who reported awareness of their HIV status has doubled from 2005 to 2008. This is attributable to multisectoral communication and programmes that promoted knowledge of HIV status and the substantial increase in the availability of voluntary counselling and testing services (VTC) over the period.
The proportion of the population who reported using a condom at their last sexual encounter was particularly high among young people aged 15-24 years: from 57% in 2002 to 87% in 2008 among young males, and from 46% to 73% among young females.
This trend was also obvious in condom use among people in the 25-49 age group, where condom use among males aged 25-49 at last sex has nearly doubled, while among females in the same age group it has tripled.
This may indicate a shift in power relations between males and females, but also an understanding of the value of condoms as in important prevention measure.
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