A Call To Action — HIV statistics for South Africa
Collecting HIV survey statistics in South Africa
The HIV prevalence for South Africa is the percentage of people that are HIV positive in the population out of the total population at a given point in time. One of the main HIV statistics for South Africa is that by the middle of 2017 12.6% of the population, that is 7.06 million people are HIV positive.1
There are 1.86 million more People Living with HIV (PLHIV) than in 2008, when the percentage was 10.6, that is 5.2 million people. The increased prevalence of HIV in 2017 is largely due to the combined effect of new infections, and a successfully expanded ARV treatment programme, which has increased survival among people living with HIV.
Looking at the total population, the prevalence in women aged 15-49 is 21.17%, the prevalence in adults aged 15-49 is 17.98% and the prevalence among youth aged 15-24 is 4.64%.2
HIV Prevalence Rate South Africa – by age and sex
There is considerable variation in the prevalence rates between women and men.
| 0-14 | 15-19 | 20-24 | 25-29 | 30-34 | 35-39 | 40-44 | 45-49 | 50-54 | 55-59 | 60+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men | 2.3 | 0.7 | 5.1 | 17.3 | 25.6 | 28.8 | 15.8 | 13.4 | 15.5 | 5.5 | 4.6 |
| Women | 2.4 | 5.6 | 17.4 | 28.4 | 36.0 | 31.6 | 28.0 | 19.7 | 14.8 | 9.7 | 2.4 |
Overall women had a significant higher HIV prevalence than men. The prevalence of HIV was highest among women aged 30-34 and among men aged 35-39. In the teenage population the estimated HIV prevalence among women was eight times that of their male equivalents. This suggests that female teenagers aged 15-19 are more likely than their male equivalents to have sex, not with people in the same age group, but with older sex partners. In the age group 30-35 over one third of all women were estimated to be HIV positive.
HIV Prevalence Rate South Africa – by province
There was also in 2012 considerable variation in the prevalence rate according to the province.3
| KZN | MP | FS | NW | GP | EC | LP | NC | WC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prevalence Rate | 16.9 | 14.1 | 14.0 | 13.3 | 12.4 | 11.6 | 9.2 | 7.4 | 5 |
Key: KwaZulu-Natal, MP – Mpumalanga, FS – Free State, NW – North West, GP – Gauteng, EC – Eastern Cape, LP – Limpopo, NC – Northern Cape, WC – Western Cape
Important South African populations
Although the epidemic in South Africa is a generalised epidemic, there are some specific populations or groups of people, who have a higher than average rate of HIV prevalence. The HIV survey in 2012 found these groups to be:4
| Population | HIV Prevalence |
|---|---|
| Black African women aged 20-35 | 31.6% |
| People co-habiting | 30.9% |
| Black African men aged 25-49 | 25.7% |
| Disabled people 15 and over | 16.7% |
| High risk alcohol drinkers 15 and over | 14.3% |
| Recreational drug users | 12.7% |
HIV incidence
The HIV incidence is the number of new HIV infections in a population during a certain time period. In 2016 the incidence was 270,000.
ARVs
It is estimated that the number of PLHIV receiving ARVs in 2016 was 3,900,000. This is however still only 53% of those eligible for treatment.
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. receiving ART | 616,337 | 933,621 | 1,611,430 | 2,350,180 | 2,760,620 | 3,078,570 |
HIV related deaths
It was estimated that in 2017 the number of AIDS related deaths was 126,755. TB was the primary cause of death for PLHIV in 2017. The highest number of deaths is estimated to have been in 2006 when an estimated 345,185 people died. The number of deaths has declined consistently since then, as a result of access to antiretrovirals.
| 2010 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimated AIDS deaths for all ages | 148,632 | 142,534 | 143,059 | 135,154 | 126,755 |
TB and HIV co-infection
It is estimated that the TB/HIV co-infection rate in South Africa is nearly 60%. So this means that the country’s TB epidemic is directly linked to HIV incidence and prevalence.
As an increasing number of people who are already HIV positive are receiving ART, so a decreasing number of them are developing TB. However, this has to be seen alongside the need to provide ARVs for those people who are becoming newly infected.
