Half a million adults in Johannesburg are HIV-positive: Survey

Veteran DR Congo opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi finally laid to

Half a million adults in Johannesburg are HIV-positive: Survey

JOHANNESBURG – A recent study survey confirmed and found that 5,3 million South Africans under the age of 50 are HIV-positive, a 5% point increase over the last 19 years.

According to a study by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation(IHME), was published recently in the journal Nature.IHME looked at a number of people living with the HIV virus in 46 African countries.

IHME endeavored to break down the number of people to assist the policymakers to focus efforts on fighting the scourge.The study revealed that South Africa’s HIV adult’s commonness rate was higher than most other African countries like Namibia(13,8%),Nigeria(3%),Kenya(5,6%),Zimbabwe(13,5%) and Mozambique(11,9%).

According to Times LIVE, Wits University Francois Venter said the epidemic was not worsening “Seventeen percent sounds about right for South Africa.More people on HIV treatment are living longer.”

In a like manner, University of KwaZulu-Natal pharmacologist Andy Gray consented.“I do not think SA’s epidemic is getting worse. Prevalence would also be expected to increase as mortality drops because of antiretroviral therapy.More persons living with HIV are living longer,” Gray said.

“The more important figure is the incidence or the number of new cases.” The provinces with the highest prevalence rates in SA are Free State(21,3%),KwaZulu-Natal(24%) and Mpumalanga(20,9%).The Northern Cape (11,5%),Western ,Cape(10%) and Limpopo(13,2%) ,KwaZulu-Natal has the most number of residents in the age bracket living with HIV which is about 1,4million. Almost half a million (466 0000 adult residents between the ages of 15 and 49 have HIV.The highest prevalence in Africa was the uMgungundlovu District in KwaZulu-Natal where Pietermaritzburg is almost three in 10(29,7%). The district Municipality with the lowest percentage of adults living with HIV is West Coast District Municipality which includes the towns of Malmesbury, Clanwilliam, Langebaan and St Helena Bay.

The survey shows how bad the epidemic is.” IHME’s Health Metrics Sciences assistant professor Dr Laura Dwyer Lindgren said, ” Global funding for HIV/AIDS has declined since 2013, but our research shows the substantial burden that still exists and reveals where geographically targeted interventions might make a big difference.”