HIV prevalence declines in Limpopo – Survey

This indicates a reduction in the number of people living with HIV in the province.

Professor Khangalani Zuma from the Human Sciences Research Council said the decline in HIV prevalence in society can be attributed to two possible factors: people dying from HIV or an increase in the number of individuals being born HIV negative.

Zuma presented key findings of the SABBSM VI report to members of the Limpopo government on Tuesday.

“It is encouraging that if you compare 2022 and 2017, the HIV prevalence curve among people younger than 35 is low, which means that fewer people were getting infected with HIV in 2022 in comparison to 2017”.

The survey further revealed that the HIV epidemic remains higher among females than in males. This has been attributed to various factors including the higher risk of HIV transmission from males to females, multiple sexual partners in males and men engaging in sexual activities before the age of 15.

“The dynamics in HIV epidemic are such that there is higher risk of HIV transmission from males to females than females to males. We see that pattern going on among older men compared to young females whereby males start catching up in their 40s and above, where their HIV begins to be higher than that of females,” said Zuma.

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He added many young people living with HIV in Limpopo are not receiving any treatment.

These are individuals aged between 0-24 years of age and are less likely aware that they are HIV positive.

“In this pool of people who are living with HIV and are not on any treatment, some of them are 0-14 and 15-24, that is concern, having young people living with HIV and not on treatment and more often than not, they are less likely to know their HIV status at that stage so that is a concern that we need to deal with,” said Zuma.

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