The number of HIV
cases in South Africa continues to increase, which
could cause life expectancy in one of Africa's most
developed countries to plummet from 63 to 46 years and
below, researchers said Thursday. Almost 6.3 million
of South Africa's 47 million population are believed
to be HIV-positive, up from 5.3 million in 2003, according
to figures presented at the provincial Gauteng AIDS
Council conference. In Gauteng, the country's economic
hub, HIV prevalence is well over 30%, and it is even
higher in poor provinces like KwaZulu-Natal, said Alan
Whiteside, professor of health economics and HIV at
the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
If the pandemic
continues on its current path, life expectancy in South
Africa could drop sharply, Whiteside said. More people are
living with HIV in South Africa than in any other
country worldwide.
The impact of the
disease is likely to peak in about 20 years, said
Whiteside. "Impact on the demographic structure is going to
be greatest. The population is going to be smaller and
the structure is going to be different," he said. (AP)