Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
South African Press Association (Johannesburg) - December 5, 2002
Former president Nelson Mandela released the report - South Africa's first ever nationally representative study of HIV prevalence - in Sandton today.
Mandela, who has become a stalwart in the fight against HIV-Aids, commissioned the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) to conduct the study under the auspices of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
KwaZulu-Natal's HIV prevalence rate for women between the ages of 15 and 49 was 11.7%. This was far lower than the estimated 33.5% given in the 2001 Department of Health survery.
The Free State, Gauteng and Mpumalanga's infection rates outstrip KwaZulu-Natal. They have prevalence rates of 14.9-; 14.7- and 14.1% respectively.
The study ranked the Western Cape fifth in terms of prevalence at 10.7%, while the Eastern Cape was found to have the lowest prevalence rate - 6.6% infection rate.
HSRC chief executive Mark Orkin said the survey provided "the most systematic and comprehensive view yet available of how HIV-Aids is affecting South Africans according to race, gender, age and geographical location".
Until recently, most of the country's HIV-Aids prevalence estimates were based on largely unrepresentative data derived from state antenatal clinics and modelled for the wider population.
This study was based on a sample of 9,963 people drawn from households across the country, 8,428 of whom consented to be tested for HIV and submitted saliva specimens.
Mandela said the information gained in the study marked a "watershed" in the fight against HIV-Aids.
"I am proud to say we now have the data to tackle the epidemic more vigorously," he said.
This data referred not only to the study's new prevalence data but also to the new data on risk-reducing factors for HIV infection. These included condom use, the impact of media campaigns and people's perceptions of HIV-Aids.
The study found that HIV prevention messages appear to be having an impact. Among young people between the ages of 15 and 24, 57.1% of men and 46.1% of women reported condom use at their last sexual encounter - a significant increase from the results of the 1998 health department study.
The study also yielded important differential prevalence rate figures for people living in urban informal settlements compared with those living in urban formal settlement, farms and other rural areas.
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