Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 46 798 949 at 2.02pm on Thursday May 16 2002.
Statistics South Africa is conducting a mortality study into ‘secondary’ causes of death in an attempt to assess the true impact of HIV/Aids. The agency said preliminary indications were that there had been a marked rise in the number of people between 20 and 40 dying of natural causes – which includes disease. The new research will provide a minimum and maximum estimate of the number of HIV-related deaths.
Aids business: The South African Business Coalition on HIV/Aids released a report looking at private-sector responses to the disease. The report, funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, found a wide spectrum of responses, with smaller companies generally being less apprehensive about the impact of HIV/Aids on their business, and also doing less to combat it. The report concluded that South African companies do not know the existing or potential impact of HIV and are basing their strategies on assumptions rather than hard data.