One in 10 South Africans between the ages of 15 and 24 are HIV-positive — but there is hope, according to the findings of new survey, released on Wednesday.
The 10,2% prevalence rate may amount to a stabilisation of infections in that age group, the survey report states. Two other recent studies have found a similar trend, it added.
”But it would be naive to think that is any cause for celebration,” head researcher Helen Rees said in a statement.
”The rate of infection among South African youth, particularly young girls, is among the highest in the world. There are persistent behavioural trends, such as multiple sexual partners, that exacerbate the problem.”
The survey, conducted by the University of the Witwatersrand’s reproductive health research unit, found that young women are more likely to be infected than men. Of the HIV-positive sample, 77% were female.
”Nearly one in four women aged 20 to 24 are HIV-positive compared to one in 14 men of the same age.”
The HIV prevalence rate among girls and women is 15,5%, compared with 4,8% among men, the survey found.
The prevalence rate is higher among 20- to 24-year-olds (16,5%) than 15- to 19-year-olds (2,5%).
”While rates among teenagers appear to have turned the corner, there is still a sharp rise in infection rates in early adulthood,” said Aids awareness group loveLife, which commissioned the study.
”The efforts of HIV prevention targeting teenagers must be supplemented with a more concerted national effort aimed at 20 to 24-year-olds.”
KwaZulu-Natal is the province with the highest HIV prevalence rate at 14,1%, and Limpopo has the lowest at 4,8%.
”In terms of geographic area, youth living in urban informal areas had the highest HIV prevalence at 17,4%.”
Other findings include that 6% of young people reported having been physically forced to have sex.
Almost a third of women reported that their first sexual encounter had been unwanted. Male partners are on average four years older, making it difficult for younger women to refuse sex or negotiate condom use.
Young women are having more sex than young men, but are less likely to use condoms, the survey found.
Sixty-seven percent of young people who had sex in the previous 12 months do not use condoms consistently.
According to loveLife, the survey results yielded encouraging signs of movement towards safer sexual behaviour among young people.
”Tentative though it is, this momentum must be sustained if we are to reach a tipping point in the epidemic.”
The survey found that 15% of young South Africans, mostly in remote areas, are not being reached by any HIV programmes.
The study claims to be the largest to date of its kind. It involved interviews and HIV testing of a nationally representative sample of nearly 12 000 15- to 24-year-olds.
”This is the first survey to have a sufficiently large sample to provide reliable national baselines for HIV prevalence and behavioural trends among young South Africans,” the university said. — Sapa