This was revealed in the latest national household HIV survey that was conducted from January 2022 to April 2023.
The overall provincial estimate for HIV prevalence for all ages in 2022 was 17.4%, meaning 890,00 people were living with HIV.
In 2017, 860,000 in the province were HIV positive.
On Tuesday, the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) released the key findings of the Sixth South African HIV Prevalence, Incidence, and Behaviour Survey for Mpumalanga.
The council’s Professor Khangalani Zuma said drastic measures are needed to address the rise in HIV infections in the province.
“The prevalence of HIV in Mpumalanga is highest compared to all other provinces, but we need to remember to interpret statistics in the context of people being on ARVs.
“In 2022, fewer young people were infected with HIV in Mpumalanga; 8.6% of individuals aged between 15 and 19 years were living with HIV in 2017; this number decreased to 6.3% in 2022.
“However, the HIV prevalence among individuals aged 20 to 24 was at 8.8% in 2022. We need to figure out how these young ones are getting infected”.
Zuma said the number of people who are on HIV treatment in South Africa has improved.
Between 2017 and 2022, the percentage of individuals on Antiretroviral treatment in the country went from 63.7% to 80.9%.
Zuma says almost 730,000 people living with HIV in Mpumalanga are on treatment.
This shows that 81.8% of 890,000 people living with HIV are likely to be virally suppressed.
“Just over 160,000 people living with HIV in Mpumalanga are not on treatment. That should be our concern because they are less likely to be virally suppressed, and in the case they have sexual intercourse, they are more likely to transmit the virus.”
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