Heather Hogan
The number of HIV/Aids-related deaths outstripped the number of births in KwaZulu-Natal last year, according to a report released by the South African Institute of Race Relations.
In the report, Professor Alan Smith, head of the virology department at the University of Natal, warns that the rest of South Africa will eventually follow this trend. Research conducted by Metropolitan Life in antenatal clinics in 1998 indicates that 11% of the working population are already HIV-positive and 18% will be infected by 2005. By that time, 5,6-million South Africans will be HIV-positive and 2,1-million people will have died.
Although KwaZulu-Natal has moved into a negative population growth rate, its infection rate has only increased by 242% since 1993. Mpumalanga has the highest infection growth rate of 1 150%.