Marginal Decline in HIV Infections Reported in KwaZulu-Natal

The number of people with HIV in KwaZulu-Natal has decreased slightly from 1.99 million in 2017 to 1.98 million in 2022. This was revealed by a recent study by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).

Professor Khangelani Zuma, who led the SAHRC research, said that in 2022, HIV was most prevalent among those aged between 25 and 49 as it was 31.1%, among women it was 38.4%, and among men it was 21.5%. 

He said that KwaZulu-Natal is no longer leading in the spread of HIV as its number is at 16%, Mpumalanga has taken the lead where it was found that the spread of HIV is at 17% which puts the number of people living with HIV in that province at 890,000.

He mentioned that although the spread of HIV in KwaZulu-Natal has decreased, this province still has many people living with HIV because it already has many people (high population numbers).

He said the good thing is that 87% of people with HIV are taking medication and 87% are taking the medication correctly. This leads to suppressing the virus and preventing it from being transmitted to others.

He expressed concern about HIV infection among people aged 15 to 24 who he said are the ones at risk of HIV infection and not taking medication as they are not diligent about testing themselves. And those aged 45 to 49, it turns out that they are infected with HIV because of sexual behavior.

He said that HIV awareness campaigns should be started from the ground up, and they should go forward as was the case when awareness was raised about Covid-19. He encouraged people to have safe sex because the research showed that the use of condoms has decreased. He said men should be circumcised because all methods should be used to prevent HIV.