South African AIDS Statistics

Source: Vanessa Haywood press release

Based on a wide range of data, including the household and antenatal studies, UNAIDS and the World Health Organisation in July 2008 published an estimate of 18,1% HIV prevalence in those aged 15-49 years old at the end of 2007 in South Africa. Their high and low estimates are 15,4% and 20,9% respectively. According to their own estimate of total population, this implies that around 5, million South Africans were living with HIV at the end of 2007, including 280 000 children under 15 years old

• It is estimated that 1 577 200 children aged up to 17 years are directly affected by HIV and AIDS through circumstances such as HIV infection at birth or through sex, living in a house with a sick or elderly caregiver, being abandoned, living in a house that cares for many children or who are multiple bereaved or frequently mobile (2008 UNGASS Country Progress Report)
• By 2010 an estimated 2,3 million South African children will be orphaned, 1,7 million of them due to AIDS (ASSA Report 2003)
• The estimated 5,7 million South Africans living with HIV in 2007 make this the largest HIV epidemic in the world